THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Mr.  William  A.   Foote 


THE 


UNITY   OF   ITALY 


THE   AMERICAN   CELEBRATION   OF   THE   UNITY   OF   ITALY,   AT 
THE  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC,  NEW  YORK,  JAN.  12,  1871,  ' 
WITH  THE   ADDRESSES,   LETTERS,    AND 
COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


Salve  magna  parens 

MAQSA  VIRUM  !      Vlrg.  Oeorg,  II. 


NEW    YOKE  : 
G.    P.    PUTNAM    A-    SONS, 

ASSOCIATION    BUILDING. 

1871. 


U5Z 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY 3 

i 

CALL  OF  THE  MEETING 5 

COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS  OX  THE  CALL 7 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  MEETING 1  ' 

LETTERS:  — 

Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  Vice-Pres.  U.  S 18 

Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  Secretary  of   State 19 

Hon.  C.  Delano,  Secretary  of  the  Interior 20 

Hon.  Ciiakles  Sumner,  U.  S.  Senate 20 

Hon.  W.  A.  Buckingham.         "            21 

Hon.  Henry  Wilson,               "           21 

Hon.  Lyman  Trumbull,          "            22 

Hon.  J.  M.  Howard,                 "            22 

Hon.  H.  W.  Corbett,                " 23 

Hon.  Geo.  F.  Edmonds            "            23 

Hon.  O.  P.  Morton,                 "            24 

Hon.  H.  B.  Antik >.\y.                "             25 

Hon.  J.  A.  Garfield,  House  of  Representatives 25 

Hon.  W.  SrnoMi.  U.  S.  Supreme  Court 26 

Hon.  S.  F.  Mn.i  i.k.                     "              26 

Hon.  J.  D.  Cox,  late  Secretary  of  the  Interior 27 

Hon.  O.  0.  Howard.  Freedmen's  Bureau 27 

Hon.  E.  R.  Hoar,  late  Attorney-General  U.  S 28 

Hon.  J.  W.  Geary,  Governor  of  Pennsylvania 29 

Hon.  II.  P.  Baldwin,  Governor  of  Michigan 29 

Hon.  Ciias.  FRANCIS  Ad\ms.  late  Minister  to  England 30 

Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  McIlvaim;,  <>f  Ohio :!<» 

lit.   Rev.  bishop  COXB,  Western  New  York 81 

Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Hu.vi  im.  TOW,  Central  NewYork 31 


ii  CONTENTS. 


LETTEES  :— 

PAGE 

lit.  Rev.  Bishop  Willi  wis,  of  Connecticut 32 

i;t.  Rev.  Bishop  Stkv ENS,  of  Pennsylvania 32 

Prof.  s.  F.  B.  Mouse 33 

Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison 34 

Hon.   GrERRITT  SMITH 36 

Prest.  AlKEN,  Union  College 36 

Prest.  Jackson,  Trinity  College 37 

Prest.  Harris,  Bowdoin  College ...- 37 

Chancellor  CROSBY,  University  of  New  York 37 

Prest,  BROWN,  Hamilton  College 39 

Prest,  Mc( !( »SH,  College  of  New  Jersey 40 

Prest.  CASW  ELL,  Brown  University 40 

Prest.  Smith,  Dartmouth  College 41 

Prest.  White,  Cornell  University 41 

Prest.  Campbell,  Rutgers  College 42 

Prest.  CooDWiN,  University  of  Pennsylvania 43 

Hon.  W.  BROSS,  Illinois 48 

Rev.  Morgan  Dix,  D.D. ,  New  York 49 

Rev.  H.  C.  Potter,  D.D.,         "        50 

Rev.  S.  H.  Tyng,  D.D.,              " ' 51 

Rev.  E.  A.  Washburn,  D.D.,    "        52 

Rev.  J.  Cotton  Smith,  D.D.,   "         52 


Rev.  W.  F.  Morgan,  D.D. 


53 


Rev.  Dr.   Sunderland,  Washington 54 

Prof.  Schapf,  Union  Theol.  Seminary 56 

Prof.  H.  B.  Smith,              "             56 

Rev.  Dr.  Prime,  New  York 57 

Rev.  Dr.  Bacon,  New  Haven 57 

Rev.  Dr.  Kirk,  Boston.  .  .    58 

Rev.  Dr.  BUSHNELL,  Hartford 59 

Rev.  Dr.  McLEOD,  New  York 60 

Rev.  Dr.  Ganse,           "        60 

Prest.    Hopkins,  Williams  College 62 

Prest.  Park,  Andover  Theol.  Seminary 63 

Rev.  Dr.  Anderson,  New  York 64 

Rev.  Dr.  Everts,  Chicago 65 

Rev.  Thos.  Farreli.,  New  York 65 

Prof.  J.  D.  Dana,  Yale  College 68 

John  G.  WniTTiER,  Mass 70 


i  "\T!  \  rs.  in 


LETTERS  ._ 

PACK 

EL  W.  Emerson,  Boston 70 

Oliver  Wendell  HOLMES,    Boston 71 

John  Neal,  Boston 71 

J.  G.  Holland,  Mass 72 

&  H.  Boker,  iMiila 73 

Geo.  s.  Hillard,  Boston !■'• 

Hon.  W.  B.  Kinnky.  New  Jersey 7"> 

VY.  I).  Eowell  (late  Consul  at  Venice) 76 

Geo.  H  Calvert,  Rhode  Island 76 

Prof.  Francis  Lieber,    LL.D 

Eenry  ('.  Carey,  1'hila 7!) 

Hon.  J.  W.  Beekmax.  late  Senator 7!t 

Henry  James 80 

Prof.  G.  P.  FlSHER,  Yale  College si 

Prof .  R.  D.  Hitchcock,  Union  Theol.  Seminary 82 

Prof.  Hedge,  Earvard  Oniversity 84 

Geo.  W.m.  Curtis 86 

1 1  \  yard  Taylor B7 

Rev.  Dr.  Dewey,  Massachusetts 88 

H.  T.   Ti  i  ki  km  an 88 

Ch  \-  Astob  Bristed 89 

CHAa  L.  Brace 90 

Rev.  C.  T.  Brooks 90 

Justin  .m<  Carthy.  . .          92 

Rev.  Dr.  Fubness,   Phila 92 

Rev.  Dr.  Oa d,  New  Fork. 98 

Rev.  Dr.  Bartol,  Boston :i;i 

Etev.  J.  F.  Clarke,    "     kid 

Etev.  O.  B.  Frothingham,  New  York 101 

Rev.  W.  EL  Axger,  Boston 104 

EL-  v.   K.   I!.    II  u.i,.            "        |n; 

Prof.  C.  S.Henry,  LL.D.,  Conn. 105 

Prof.  Benj.  \    M  \ki  in.  \.-w  fork.... 105 

Prof.  Tayler  Lewis,  LL.D.,  Union  College.. His 

Richard  H  Dana,  Jr.,  Boston   ....  1  in 

ENTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JOHN  A.  DES     11; 

OLUTIONS   mi 


IV  CONTENTS. 


ADDRESSES  :— 

PAGE 

Rev.  Jos.  P.  Thompson,  D.D. ,  LL.D 121 

Address  to  the  Government  and  People  of  Italy 133 

I'  \kke  Godwin,  Esq 134 

Rev.   H.  W.  Beecher 140 

Judge  James  Emott 148 

Rev.  H.  W.  Bellows,  D.D 156 

Hon.  Horace  Greeley >. 164 

Rev.  William  Adams.  D.D.,  LL.D 167 

William  Cullen  Bryant 172 

Telegram  to  the  Italian  Government 175 

COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS  ON  THE  MEETING 176 


APPENDIX : 


Telegram  from  the  Italian  Government 193 

Letter  of  the  Italian  Consul 193 

Letter  of  the  Italian  Minister 194 

Reply  of  Gen.  Dix,  President  of  the  Meeting 195 

Address  from  Massachusetts 196 

Hvmn  bv  Juldv  Ward  Howe 197 


THE  UNITY  OF  ITALY. 


The  meeting  lately  held  in  this  city  to  celebrate  the 
completion  of  Italian    Unity   was  so  significant    in  its 
expression,  and  the  sympathy  it  evoked  so  deep  and  uni- 
versal, that  it  has  seemed  proper  to  preserve  the  record 
of  it  in  a  permanent  form.     It  has  so  long  been  the 
habit  of  the  peoj^le  of  the  United  States  to  sympathize 
with   other  nations  struggling   for   their   emancipation 
from  unjust  and  tyrannical  rule,  and  to  recognize  their 
success  in  the  effort  by  congratulations  and  rejoicing, 
that  it  Mas  but  natural  for  us  to  treat  the  recent  unifi- 
cation of  Italy  with  lively  expressions  of  our  approval 
and  delight.     In  consequence,  however,  of  the  absorbing 
interest   attached  to  the  events  of  the  Franco-Germanic 
war,  these  expressions  were  not  so  prompt  or  universal 
as  they  otherwise  would   have  been;  and   it  was   <>nl\ 
when  the  partisans  of   the  ecclesiastical  government  at 
Rome,  overthrown  by  the  Italian  nation,  began  to  send 
abroad  their  own  peculiar  opinions  and  protests  as  pep- 
resentative  of  American  sentiment,  that  it  was  fchoughl 
needful  t<>  counteract  the  impressions  likely  t<>  be  pro- 
duced fcherebj   l.\  a  more  genuine  and  spontaneous  utter- 
ance of  the  Eeelings  of  the  American  people 

The  meeting,  therefore,  called  (<>  assemble  at  the  Aca- 


UNITY    OF    ITALY, 


demy  of  Music  on  the  12th  of  January  last,  was  de- 
signed to  be,  in  no  sense  of  the  word,  a  sectarian  or  a 
religious  meeting,  but  a  political  one,  whose  sole  object 
should  be  to  proclaim  to  the  world  the  uniform  and 
distinctive  sentiment  of  this  nation,  as  to  the  great  and 
fundamental  principles  of  civil  government.  That  was 
the  reason  it  commended  itself  so  warmly  to  the  regards 
of  all  classes  of  our  citizens,  and  brought  out,  in  letters 
and  editorial  articles,  such  a  general  and  hearty  response 
to  its  appeals.  That  was  the  reason  also  that  the  meet- 
ing itself  was  the  greatest  and  most  enthusiastic  that 
lias  been  held  in  this  city,  since  the  early  days  of  our 
war.  The  immense  enclosure  of  the  Academy  building 
could  have  been  three  times  filled  by  the  crowd  gathered 
around  it  to  participate  in  the  proceedings,  while  the 
audience  which  was  permitted  to  join  in  them,  composed 
of  the  most  eminent  and  respectable  part  of  our  popula- 
tion, evinced  a  degree  of  earnestness  and  vivacity  that 
has  never  been  surpassed  on  any  similar  occasion.  Of 
the  Resolutions  and  the  Speeches  which  characterized 
the  celebration,  the  Committee  say  nothing,  because 
they  are  herein  reported  at  length ;  but  they  cannot 
refrain  from  returning  their  thanks  in  this  public  man- 
ner to  the  President  of  the  meeting  and  to  the  speakers 
for  their  judicious  and  eloquent  discourses,  and  to  the 
press  of  the  city  for  the  ready  and  kindly  assistance 
which  it  lent  to  their  efforts. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  W.  T.  Blodgett, 

W.  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  V.  Botta, 


Howard  Potter, 
New  York,  February,  1871. 


Committee  of  Arrangements. 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


The  following  Call  appeared  in  the  papers  of  New  York  on 
the  6th  of  January,  L871. 

THE   CALL. 

We,  the  undersigned,  propose  to  express  to  United  Italy  the 
sympathy  and  congratulations  of  the  American  people  upon  the 
emancipation  of  Rome,  and  its  occupation  as  the  future  capital 
of  the  nation  ;  and  to  celebrate  this  event  at  the  Academy  of 
Music  on  Thursday  evening,  Jan.  12.  The  union  of  Kome  to 
Italy  fulfils  the  aspirations  of  the  Italian  people  for  nationality, 
gives  to  the  Romans  a  constitutional  government  of  their  own 
(•hoi,-,.,  consecrates  the  right  of  National  Independence,  and 
closo  the  long  period  of  foreign  intervention  of  which  Etaly  has 
for  centuries  been  the  victim.  Consolidating  the  nation  on  a 
firm  basis,  it  gives  full  scope  to  the  energies  of  the  people  in 
education,  politics,  industry,  commerce,  literature,  and  the  arts. 
and  tends  to  the  realization  of  Cavour's  idea,  "A  free  Church  in 
a  free  State."  thus  assimilating  Italian  institutions  more  oearly 
to  our  own.  and  opening  a  new  era  of  civil  and  religious  liberty 
in  Europe. 


• I  AMES  Bkowx. 
W.  II.  A.8PINWALL. 
•lolIN    A.  DlX. 

W.  c.  Bryant. 
W.  E.  Dodge. 
M  \ksiiall  ().  Roberts. 
Jonathan  Sturges. 
Morris  K.  Jesup. 
Hem:1!  < ;.  Stebbins. 
•  i  v.ckson  s.  schultz. 
A.  A.  Low. 
Samuel  F.  B.  Mob 
Willard  Parker. 
Cyrus  YV.  Field. 
Wm.  Remsen. 
Norm  w  White. 

<  rEo.  Talbot  <  >lyphant. 

'■'■     OB  WD     B.    (  ' ANSON. 

Si  DNE-J    E.    MOR8E. 

W.  B.  »),.,,,  s. 

<  11  \i:i.i:s  Tb  \'  V. 


Charles  Butler. 
Charles  K.  Whitehead. 
Geo.  W.  Lane. 

I  "i:\Tii:   A.   I  I  \\\  kins. 

Grosa  enob  P.  Lowrey. 
Thou  \s  11.  Faile. 

l'l:\N.   IS    LlEUER. 

William  <  >rton. 
W.  H.  Webb. 
Charles  P.  Kirkland. 
John  P.  (  Irosby. 
George  I'..  Smith. 
Hiram  Barney. 
(  h  rdon  Bi  CK. 
Henri   ( '.  Potter. 
I  [enry  W.  Bellows. 
<  rEo.  Willi  \m  <  '1  rtis. 

S.    B.  <  'lllTTIMM   N. 

John  < '.  1 1  lmilton. 

It.   II.    Hi  TTON. 

I  [obace  Greeley. 


UNITY     OF     ITALY. 


E.  S.  Janes. 
Thomas  Denny. 
.Josiaii  Lane. 
Wm.  Alexander  Smith. 
A.  R.  Wetmore. 
John  Torrey. 
Courtlandt  Palmer. 
Fred.  J.  de  Peyster. 
Geo.  T.  Strong. 
Robert  J.  Livingston. 
A.  Van  Rensselaer. 
Wm.  A.  Booth. 
William  Adams. 
Ethan  Allen. 
Geo.  S.  Coe. 
Henry  Clews. 
John  Sedgwick. 

Alfred  Post. 

Thomas  D.  Anderson. 

Gustave  Schwab. 

Nathan  Bishop. 

h.  t.  tuckerman. 

R.  Warren  Weston. 

Levi  P.  Morton. 

John  E.  Williams. 

Marshall  S.  Bidwell. 

Otis  D.  Swan. 

F.  W.  Rhinelander. 

Jonathan  Thorne. 

W.  Dennistoun. 

Allan  McLane. 

W.  H.  Foster. 

Winthrop  S.  Gilman. 

And  many 


J.  M.  Halsted. 
Henry  Chauncey. 
R.  Ogden  Doremus. 
C.  E.  Detmold. 
Lloyd  Aspinwall. 
J.  C.  Havemeyer. 
Francis  D.  Moulton. 
Sinclair  Tousey. 
Parker  Handy. 
Samuel  C.  Reed. 
Geo.  P.  Putnam. 
O.  E.  Wood. 
'    L.  H.  Waters. 
W.  R.  Vermilye. 
'  F.'  S.  Winston. 
Wm.  A.  Hammond. 
R.  H.  McCurdy. 
Zophar  Mills. 

Theodore  W.  Dwight. 

Fabbri  &  Chauncey. 

Brown  Brothers  &  Co. 

Fred.  Schuchardt  &  Sons. 

E.  D.  Morgan  &  Co. 

A.  A.  Low  &  Brothers. 

Phelps,  Dodge  &  Co. 

Wetmore,  Cryder  &  Co. 

Arnold,  Sturges  &  Co. 

Dabney,  Morgan  &  Co. 

Cary  &  Co. 

Oelrichs  &  Co. 

David  Dows  &  Co. 

Jesse  Hoyt  &  Co. 

Grinnell,  Minturn  &  Co. 

OTHERS. 


COMMENTS  OF  THE  PKESS. 


The  Call  was  received  with  general  favor,  and  elicited  many 
able  articles  from  the  Press,  from  which  the  foil. .win-  selections 
are  made  : — 

[The  New  York  Times.] 
CANNOT    W  E    HELP    ITU.Y  ? 

An  impression  lias  already  got  abroad  through  Europe,  owing  to  the 
meetings  held  in  our  large  cities  opposing  the  deposition  of  the  Pope 
as  temporal  ruler,  that  American  sympathy  is  generally  with  the  Pope, 
rather  than  with  Italy,  on  the  question  of  his  temporal  government. 
Already  a  distinguished  English  Catholic  has  quoted   this  country  as 
opposed  to  the  efforts  of  the  King  of  Italy  to  possess  Rome  and  unify 
his  country.     Now  nothing  could   be  further  from   the  truth.     There 
has  been,  indeed,  ..wing  to  preoccupation  with  home  affairs,  and  other 
causes  by  uo  means  creditable   to  ^ur  public  men,  an  unaccoxintable 
silence  in  our  community  over  this  grand  evenl  of  the  century— the 
ilari/.ati.-n   of  the   Pope's   .1. .mains,  and   the   anion   and   liberty  of 
Italy.      I'.ut  any  one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  tone  of  our  intelli- 
gent classes,  Deed   not    be  informed   that   there  is  here  an   unbounded 
mpathy  with  the  young  Kingdom  of  Italy  in  its  efforts  i"  break  the 
of  priestcraft,  and   to  make  the  Peninsula  one  under  a  consti- 
tutional <  rovernment. 

Even  liberal  Catholics  are  in  barmonj  with  the  aims  of  the  Italian 
Government,  and  believe  thai  the  spiritual  influence  of  the  Pope  will 
,„,i  be  diminished  by  the  loss  of  Lis  temporal  power.  The  Protestam 
masses  are  united  on  this  question.  Thej  have  long  looked  on  the 
Pope's  temporal  government  as  an  anachronism  and  a  disgrace  to  a 
free  Italy.     Our  travellers  have  reported  the  unlimited   ignorance  and 

degradati listing  under  that   administration,  and    A-inerican   Rym 

patbiea  have  revolted  at  the  oppressive  an. I  worldly  ml.'  of  a soli 

astical  leader.     Our  people  have  followed  everj  step  of  the  progress  of 

the  Kin.'.l of  Sardinia  with  intense  interesl   and   approval.      In  the 

war  with  A.u  fcria,  public  opinion  here  was  universally  on  the  Bide  oi 
[taly,  and  the  acquisition  of  the  Northern  Province  -  was  rejoiced  over 
I,,.,  ou   I. out    lib  ral    Europe.     G  uubai  di's  victorious 


8  UNITY     OF     ITALY. 

campaign  againsl  Naples,  and  the  Italian  conquest  of  Southern  Italy, 
awakened  in  America  genuine  enthusiasm.  The  check  to  Italian  pro- 
gress  administered  by  Napoleon  in  shutting  out  Italy  from  Rome, 
and  the  annexation  of  Nice  and  Savoy,  were  thought  to  be  fatal  blun- 
ders, and  In  have  soiled  the  only  pure  glory  of  the  Empire. 

since  then  eaeli  successive  liberal  step  of  the  Government  of  VICTOR 
EMMANUEL  lias  been  followed  by  the  xtniversal  sympathy  of  our  masses  : 
the  secularization  of  the  religious  bodies,  the  spread  of  popular  educa- 
tion, the  development  of  parliamentary  government,  and  the  liberal- 
izing of  the  Monarchy.  The  impatience  of  the  Italian  people  under 
the  French  occupation  of  Rome,  and  their  unquenchable  desire  to 
possess  a  united  country  under  a  free  government,  were  felt  and  re- 
sponded to  from  every  portion  of  our  native-born  population.  Ca- 
VOUr's  great  motto,  "  A  free  Church  in  a  free  State,"  was  our  own. 
And  when,  at  length,  the  capitulation  of  Sedan  forced  Rome  from  the 
foreigner,  and  through  the  gap  of  the  "Villa  Bonaparte"  Italian 
Annies  marched  to  the  Vatican,  a  universal  thrill  of  sympathy  and 
approval  passed  through  our  people.  That  the  old  priestly  Monarchy, 
dating  almost  from  Charlemagne,  which  had  sown  its  harvest  of 
wrongs  and  oppressions  for  centuries,  which  had  once  founded  its  throne 
over  all  earthly  monarchies,  and  under  religious  names  had  scattered 
curses  among  mankind,  whose  fall  had  been  the  object  of  prayer  and 
the  supposed  subject  of  prophecy,  should  at  length,  after  a  thousand 
years  and  more  of  misrule,  be  overthrown  by  its  own  subjects,  and  be 
succeeded  by  a  kingdom  in  harmony  with  the  ideas  of  the  age,  was 
something  that  no  liberal  American  could  hear  of  without  the  deepest 
feeling  of  approval. 

That  there  has  been  silence  here,  where  there  ought  to  have  been 
a  most  open  and  eloquent  recognition  of  these  grand  events,  is,  we  are 
confident,  the  result  of  accident  rather  than  design.  There  are  surely 
public  men  among  us  who  are  not  merely  politicians,  and  are  not, 
therefore,  afraid  to  express  their  sympathy  with  the  greatest  event  in 
the  liberal  progress  of  Europe  during  this  century.  There  must  be 
orators  and  statesmen  in  this  country  who  can  spare  a  word  of  honest 
sympathy  for  a  liberal  European  Government,  struggling  with  priest- 
craft, and  striving  against  fearful  obstacles  for  a  free  Church  in  a 
united  and  free  State.  Is  it  not  possible  in  this  great  city  to  obtain  an 
expression  of  public  opinion  which  shall  relieve  this  country  from 
misapprehensions  in  the  mind  of  Europe,  and  contribute  to  the  moral 
strength  of  the  government  of  Italy  in  its  struggle  for  the  right  ? 

ITALIAN    UNITY. 

The  announcement  of  the   meeting  tomorrow   night,    to   express  to 


«  OMMENTS     OF     THE     PRESS.  9 

United  [talythe  sympathy  and  congratulations  of  the  ALmerican  peo- 
ple, has  awakened  an  interest  that  will  not  soon  evaporate.  In  the 
absence  of  concerted  action,  the  genera]  aspect  was  one  of  cold  indif- 
ference. Dr.  Manning's  declaration,  thai  the  public  opinion  of  the 
United  States  is  on  the  side  of  the  Pope  and  against  the  people  and 
Kingof  [taly,  seemed  for  the  moment  to  be  justified  bj  the  demon- 
strations of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  our  large  cities,  and  by  the  ab- 
sence of  any  strong  voice  on  the  other  side.  The  [Jltramontanists  of 
Europe  will  discover  that  their  reliance  upon  tins  country  was  prema- 
ture.    The  bishops  And  priests  have  managed  matters  rather  effectively, 

sofar.     The   opinion   of  G America  will  now  be  heard,— and  it  will 

not  be  in  support  of  the  Papal  pretensions.  New  York  moves  fust. 
Bui  the  hall  to  he  set  in  motion  to-morrow  will  not  cease  rollina  until 
it  has  traversed  the  continent. 

How  deeply  the  appeal  stirs  the  Protestant  feeling  and  the  genuine 
republican  convictions  of  this  country,  the  responses  of  men  of  tie- 
highest  character  sufficiently  show.  A  week  ago,  every  public  man 
seemed  dumb  in  the  presence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  power.  Now 
they  com-,  one  after  another,  with  expressions  of  hearty  sympathy  and 
congratulation.  The  influential  names  attache,!  to  the  call  for  the 
meeting  proved  that,  however  much  trading  politicians  may  pander  to 

''"'  l; an  Catholic  vote,  the  intelligence  and   honest  public  spirit   of 

the  city  cherish  respect  and  admiration  tor  the  long-sustained  contest 
which  has  freed  Rome  from  foreign  intervention,  given  to  the  States 
of  the  Church  a  constitutional  governmenl  in  the  place  of  an  effete  an. I 
odious  despotism,  and  fulfilled  the  Italia,,  aspiration  for  unity.  Vice- 
'''  H  l""'  «'""  \\  was  the  firs!  of  -a,,-  public  men  to  come  forward 
with  words  of  cordial  approval.  To-day  we  prim  letters  of  similar  im- 
port from  Senators  Tbumbi  ll,  I:,  ckingb  \m.  and  Howard,  from  Secre 
tar>  Delano  and  ex-Secretary  Cox.  Tic-  meeting  will  furnish  further 
testimony  of  the  same  sort.  The  f,ct  will  be  made  apparent,  that  all 
our  public  mm,  are  ,,,,(  cowards  or  demagogues.  Where  the  American 
1 Ple  stand,  no  man  who  knows  them  could  for  a  moment  doubt. 

"  The  opening  of  [talj  to  liberal  ideas,"  writes  Senator  Trumbull 
"and  the  unlocking  of  Rome  itself  to  the  advancing  civilization  and 
intelligence  of  the  nineteenth  century,  are  great  events  in  the  world's 
history.  '  Tics  are  events  whicb  no  lover  of  freedom  in  any  countrj  can 
contemplate  unmoved.  Every  stage  of  the  struggle  of  which  these  are 
the  consummation,  has  been  watched  with  intense  interest.  Tin 
gradual  development  of  a  grand  idea,  and  its  peaceful  assertion  in  a 
shaPe  wl|i.-h  establishes  right  aid  liberty,  and  makes  Rome  the  capital 
"'  •'  '"""  tructed  nation,  are  mailer,  whicb  no  people  pretending  to  he 
free  .-an  view  with  indifference.      If  the  purpo  e  of  the  movi  ment  bere 


10  UNITY     OF     ITALY. 

were  to  enlist  American  opinion  in  support  of  revolutionary  schemes 
or  efforts, — if  it  were  identified  with  any  species  of  political  propagan- 
dising or  with  any  chimerical  doctrine  of  nationalities, — there  might  be 
some  reason  for  doubting  its  propriety.  But  the  object  is  simply  to 
recognize  the  right  of  the  Italian  people  to  reunite  under  a  constitu- 
tional government  responsible  to  themselves.  It  is  intended,  not  to 
invoke  interference  in  Italian  affairs,  but  to  rejoice  with  Italy  in  its 
emancipation  from  a  rule  which  has  been  upheld  by  foreign  bayonets, 
and  which  made  all  authority  subordinate  to  priestly  power.  Can  any 
cause  be  imagined  which  more  directly  commends  itself  to  the  judg- 
ment, the  principles,  or  the  traditions  of  the  American  Republic  ? 

THE    MEANING    OP    THE    ITALIAN    MEETING. 

It  is  important  that  it  should  be  understood  by  our  readers  that  the 
great  meeting  to  be  held  this  evening  for  the  expression  of  sympathy 
with  Italian  Unity  and  the  independence  of  Rome,  is  not  in  any  way  or 
shape  a  religious  meeting.  There  is  no  thought  of  kindling  here  the 
Haines  of  religious  hatred  and  jealousy  between  the  Protestants  and 
( latholics.  One  of  the  principal  promoters  of  the  movement  is  an  Italian 
Catholic  Liberal.  The  Catholic  Government  of  Victor  Emmanuel  needs 
and  desires  the  support  of  such  a  popular  expression.  The  whole 
Catholic  population  of  Italy,  outside  of  the  Pope  and  the  Jesuits,  and 
their  immediate  followers,  are  in  hearty  sympathy  with  it.  The  noblest 
minds  in  the  history  of  the  Roman  Church  have  been  in  favor  of  Italian 
Unity,  and  opposed  to  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope.  It  is  reserved 
for  the  priestly  party  in  this  country — for  the  ignorant  Irish  Catholics 
and  their  leaders  and  tools,  and  for  a  newspaper  which  is  their  habitual 
mouthpiece — to  defend  a  power  which  the  liberal  Catholics  of  Europe 
have  long  considered  a  relic  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  meeting  to-night  will  take  no  account  of  Romanist  or  Protestant 
dogmas.  It  is  simply  and  purely  an  expression  of  sympathy  with  a 
great  step  in  human  progress — the  unity  of  a  noble  people,  long  divided 
and  oppressed,  and  the  freedom  of  a  venerable  historic  capital  from  the 
ignorant  and  oppressive  rule  of  priests.  The  Pope's  spiritual  "independ- 
ence "  is  not  assailed.  He  may  be  the  "  bishop  of  souls  "  as  long  and  as 
widely  as  he  is  able.  He  may  profess  infallibility  or  any  other  dogma, 
and  teach  it.  With  this,  as  a  people,  we  have  nothing  to  do.  But 
when,  under  the  cowardly  influence  of  politicians,  we  as  Americans 
cease  to  feel  and  express  our  feelings  with  every  nation  that  throws  off 
oppression,  and  joins  the  grand  march  of  free  peoples,  advancing  toward 
complete  liberty  of  Church  and  State,  we  shall  be  unworthy  our  name 
and  our  history.  The  meetings  on  the  other  side  have  declared  loudly 
for  priestcraft    and  spiritual    tyranny.     Their   words  have  been   tele- 


COMMENTS     OF    TOE    PRESS.  H 

graphed  over  Europe,  and  have  encouraged  all  friends  of  Jesuitry  and 
despotism.     Shall  the  friends  of  libeiiy  in  America  be  silent  ? 

The  American  principle  has  always  been  that  a  people  has  the  right 
to  choose  its  own  form  of  government,  and  that  Church  and  State 
should  be  separated.  The  people  of  Rome  and  of  ltah  have  decided 
by  immense  majorities  for  Victob  Emmani  el's  government,  and  the 
temporaldepositimof  the  Pope.  This  popular  decision  will  be  confirmed 
this  evening  by  one  of  the  largesi  and  most  intelligent  assemblies  that 
ever  met  inNev,  York,  It  is  true  that,  outside  the  political  and  moral 
meaning  of  this  mooting,  there  is  a  deep  moral  interest  of  the  Protest- 
ams.as  a  body,  in  this  revolution.  And  we  do  not  see  why  they  should 
he  ashamed  to  own  it.  Whatever  frees  human  thought,  whatever 
weakens  priestly  rule,  whatever  removes  the  ignorance  and  oppression 
of  past  ages,  is  to  Protestants  a  gain,  because  it  opens  the  mind  of  man 
'"  nu,il  !  :""1  aU  that  they  ask  in  Europe  or  the  United  States  is  a  free 
field  for  thought  and  argument.  Beyond  that  they  can  leave  the  result 
to  time  and  truth. 


[The  New  York  Tribune.] 

The  occupation  of  Rome,  as  the  capital,  once  more,  of  United  Italy,  is 
an  event  of  such  commanding  interest  in  the  world's  historythat  the 
proposition  to  commemorate  it  l.v  a  memorial  celebration  at  the  Aca- 
demy of  Music  will  attract  general  approval  and  sympathy.  The  names 
signed  to  the  call  are  representatives  of  what  is  host  and  most  influen- 
tial in  all  classes  of  our  New  Fork  society:  and  the  speakers  secured 
;i"'  prominent  and  able.  We  bespeak  for  the  meeting  the  attention  of 
all  our  citizens.  No  nobler  stride  toward  Liberal  institutions  has  been 
made  in  Europe  for  many  a  day  than  the  marvellous  realization  of 
Cavour's  dream,  which  our  eyes  have  been  permitted  to  sec.      Lei  us 

give  it  cordial  recognition  and   welcome. 


The  celebration   to-night,  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  of  a   free  and 
United  Italy,  by  her  sons  residenl  among  us  and  her  manj  admirers,  is 

an  e\.nt  with  which  every  American  can  sympathize     i etingwhich 

every  friend  of  national   progress  maj  feel  proud  to  attend.     The  land 

'•t  song  and  of  art,  of  history  and  r ance,  the  old  time  centre  of  civilj 

zation  and  religion,  and  to-day  free  and  one,  presents  a  spectacle  which 
may  wdi  kindle  the  warmest  eloquence  and  the  brightest  hopes.  <  >n 
our  second  page  will  he  found  letters  from  various  statesmen  and  other 
prominent  citizens,  which  indicate  the  high  estimate  of  the  ne«  em 
opening  before  [talj  entertained  by  Hie  wisest  and  best  of  our  people. 
,'1"'  meeting  i  certain  to  be  imposing  and  enthu  ia  tic,  and  we  are  glad 
'"  notice  that  Ladie  .  too, are  invited  and  expected  to  be  present. 


12  UNITY     OF    ITALY. 

[Tho  Evening  Post.] 
EMANCIPATED    ROME. 

Rome  has  suddenly  become  the  capital  of  a  free  people ;  the  seat  of 
a  government  which,  under  a  royal  name,  forms  the  symbol  to  twenty- 
five  millions  of  people,  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  formed  and 
maintained  the  most  famous  and  lasting  republic  the  old  world  ever 
saw,  of  all  their  future  of  union  and  liberty. 

The  local  tyranny  which  has  so  long  been  practised  in  Rome  has 
recently  allied  itself  with  bolder  pretensions  than  ever  before,  makiug 
it  conspicuous  in  its  decay.  In  the  midst  of  these  events,  its  political 
adherents  in  the  United  States,  a  small  minority  of  the  people,  have 
been  active  in  sending  greetings  and  expressions  of  sympathy  to  the 
falling  papacy  ;  and  all  their  words  are  instantly  echoed  throughout 
Italy  and  Europe  as  if  they  were  the  voice  of  the  American  republic, 
expressing  the  convictions  of  a  people  all  whose  prosperity  and  glory 
rest  upon  self-government  and  freedom  of  conscience.  It  is  time  these 
false  reports  were  ended. 

A  number  of  citizens  of  New  York  have  determined  to  hold  a  meet- 
ing at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  this  city,  to  express  the  actual  senti- 
ments of  the  people  of  the  United  States  towards  the  people  of  United 
Italy  upon  the  occupation  of  Rome  as  their  capital,  and  upon  the 
restoration  to  that  city  of  a  government  of  their  own  choice.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  movement  of  a  religious  or  theological  character.  The 
American  people  do  not  question  the  right  of  the  Roman  priesthood  to 
teach  even  the  papal  supremacy  itself.  But  the  corrupting  union  of 
<  Jhurch  and  State,  the  arming  of  ecclesiastical  dogma  with  civil  author- 
ity, the  perversion  of  the  Christian  priesthood  to  be  an  instrument  of 
princely  ambition,  these  are  as  repugnant  to  republican  principles  as 
the  establishment  of  national  unity  and  independence  in  Italy,  and  the 
restoi-ation  of  free  institutions  to  Rome  are  welcome  to  every  enlight- 
ened  friend  of  liberty  and  progress. 

There  will  be  addresses  by  eminent  speakers,  and  such  an  expression 
of  sympathy  and  congratulation  towards  the  enfranchised  and  united 
people  of  Italy  as  will,  it  is  hoped,  convince  them  and  all  others  that 
America  understands  and  loves  the  good  work,  which  the  principles  of 
freedom  ate  carrying  on  in  the  old  world  as  well  as  here. 

THE    UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

The  citizens  of  New  York  will  have  an  opportunity  on  Thursday 
evening  to  express  their  satisfaction  in  the  restoration  of  national 
unity  to  the  whole  Italian  people,  under  a  free  government.  This 
event,  although  it  is  the  most  important  and  beneficent  result  of  the 
war  between  Germany  and  France,  has  not  yet   ivceived  from  the  peO- 


COMMENTS     OF    THE     PR]  3S.  13 

pie  of  the  United  States  the  attention  it  deserves.  The  absorbing  in- 
terest excited  by  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  abroad,  and  by  politics  and 
trade  at  home,  has  given  them  little  time  to  reflecl  on  the  great  change, 
30  quietly  wrought,  by  which  the  city  that  was  the  first  capital  of  the 
civilized  world  has  been  delivered  from  misgovernmeni  and  oppression, 
and  for  the  firsl  time  to  many  ages  there  is  again  a  free  Roman  people 
and  an  Italian  nation. 

n,u  the  enemies  of  popular  government  and  of  free  thought  have 
presumed  too  far  upon  our  silence ;  and  have  denied  that  the  Ameri- 
can people  take  any  satisfaction  to  the  emancipation  of  Rome,  or  to 
the  creation  of  a  liberal  commonwealth  to  Italy.  It  is  time  to  contra- 
dict them,  with  a  voire  that  will  be  heard  across  the  sea.  The  meeting 
on  Thursday  evening  will,  doubtless,  bring  together  so  large  and  so 
enthusiastic  a  body  of  intelligent  and  thoughtful  men,  that  itsgreetings 
will  be  accepted  at  once  as  the  expression  of  public  opinion  to  the 
United  Suites. 

\    oi;i:i:i  i\,;    to    UNITED    ITALY. 

The  interest  of  the  public  in  the  great  meeting  of  the  Americans 
who  rejoice  to  the  union  of  [taly,  to  be  held  at  the  Academy  of  Music 
this  evening,  grows  rapidly.  The  projectors  of  the  meeting,  it  is  re- 
ported, entered  upon  their  work  with  some  apprehensions  which  qualified 

their  enthusiasm:    there  being  reason   to  fear  lest   they  Would  meet    with 

opposition,  both  from  designing  men.  who  might   hope  to  gain   political 
favor  by  misrepresenting  them,  and   from    timid    men.  who   might    be 
afraid  of   making    political    enemies    by   expressing   their   real    senti 
ment  s. 

But  all  sueh  fears  seem  to  have  vanished  before  the  almost  universal 
conviction  of  the  people,  that  the  great  advance  just  made  bj  Italy  in 
the  way  of  union  and  liberty  is  a  substantia]  ami  splendid  triumph  of 
American  principles  in  the  old  woild.  From  the  press  in  general  and 
among  the  people  the  announcement  of  the  meeting  has  already  called 
,'"1'11'  such  a  generous  and  unanimous  recognition  of  whal  italj  I; 
accomplished,  and  such  an  expression  of  sympathy  will)  her  continued 
struggles  for  growth  and  progress,  as  fn Ms  justify  and  reward  the 
effort.      It    i,   now  beyond  question    thai    the  meeting  will   be   a   great 

cess;  and  that  it  will  be  justly  regarded,  both  bere  and  to  Europe,  as 
th  ■  true  expression  of  public  opinion  in  the  I  fhited  States. 

The   \alue  ,,f  sm  I,  gatherings  as  thi     does   not    lie   exclusively  nor 
always  chief!)  in   their  avowed   purpose,  or  even   in   their  obvious  re 
-"''-•      ''  would  be  a  me able  reproach  to  the  United  Stat<      if  the 

11  event  of  the  la  t  year,  the  •    tabli  hment  of  one  tree  and  coustitu 
tional  government   throughout    the  historical  Peninsula  of  [taly,  were 


14  UNITY    OF     ITALY. 

allowed  to  pass  without  proof  to  the  world  that  its  importance  and 
grandeur  are  appreciated  by  the  American  people.  But  our  people 
are  themselves  free,  and  it  is  not  in  the  diplomatic  papers  of  their 
government  nor  in  the  official  declarations  of  their  public  men  that 
their  principles  and  conscience  are  best  and  most  fully  expressed.  It 
is  in  the  will  of  the  people  themselves,  coming  together  of  their  own 
accord,  and  freely  giving  a  form  to  their  convictions,  which  reflects  all 
their  zeal  and  enthusiasm.  Nothing  that  our  government  could  do  or 
say  would  be  as  welcome  to  the  people  of  Italy  as  the  news  that  the 
mind  and  heart  of  our  greatest  city  have  laid  aside  all  the  business  of 
the  hour,  and  joined  in  greeting  them  with  a  God-speed  in  their  new 
and  noble  career,  and  that  their  words  are  echoed  throughout  the 
land  ;  nor  could  anything  else  contribute  more  surely  to  the  conscious 
independence,  integrity,  and  power  of  public  opinion  among  our- 
selves. 

Such  a  greeting,  we  are  sure,  will  go  forth  to  Italy  from  this  coun- 
try  tomorrow;  and  all  citizens,  who  wish  to  take  part  in  one  of  the 
most  generous  and  truly  American  acts  of  the  times  we  live  in,  will 
wish  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  this  evening. 


[The  Evening  Mail.] 
AMERICAN    SYMPATHY   WITH    ITALY. 

We  publish  elsewhere  the  notice  of  a  public  meeting  that  is  to  be 
held  at  the  Academy  of  Music  next  Thursday  evening,  by  the  friends 
of  Italian  imity  and  liberty.  Although  not  much  has  been  said  about 
this  demonstration  by  the  press,  it  has  really  been  the  subject  of  more 
earnest  thought  and  discussion  by  prominent  citizens  than  any  other 
like  affair  that  has  been  projected  for  many  years. 

The  object  sought  by  the  getters-up  of  this  demonstration  has  been 
to  assure  Italians,  and  the  peoples  and  governments  of  Europe  generally, 
i  hat  I  he  American  people  rejoice  in  the  complete  acquisition  of  Italy  by 
a  government  which  represents  and  is  the  choice  of  the  whole  of  Italy. 
It  has  been  believed  that  the  people  of  this  country  will  hold  out  an 
encouraging  hand  to  the  Italians  in  the  reducing  into  practice  of  our 
theory  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  as  against  any  princely  prero- 
gatives whatsoever,  whether  these  are  exercised  by  ecclesiastical  or  tem- 
poral potentates. 

As  we  understand  the  motives  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  been  pre- 
paring this  demonstration,  they  want  to  make  it  one  of  an  entirely 
political  character.  They  say  that  millions  of  good  Roman  Catholics  in 
Italv  and  elsewhere  rejoice  that  the  Pope  has  no  longer  to  be  troubled 
by  the  inconsistent   duties   of  a  petty  temporal  Prince,  and  that  his 


i  OMMES  r8     OF    THE     l'KM  SS.  1  •"' 

dignity  and  importance  as  a  spiritual  potentate  will  be  vastly  enhanced 
by  his  liberation  from  annoying,  belittling  and  degrading  cares;  thai 
the  scandal  to  liberty  and  to  religion  of  a  power  in  Italy  which  needs 
the  support  of  foreign  bayonets  will  be  abated  :  that  as  a  purely  spiritual 
Prince,  the  Pop.' will  find  himself  released  from  obligations  to  Kings  and 
Emperors,  and  at  liberty  to  oppose  their  encroachments  on  the  powers 
and  prerogatives  of  the  Church. 

This,  we  believe,  is  about  the  aspect  of  the  Italian  question  which  is 
to  be  presented  next  Thursday  evening  1>\  sum,'  of  ourpublic  nun.  whose 
names  are  known  and  honored  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  They  do 
not  wish  to  present  any  other  issue  than  the  simple  one  of  "Italy  for 
the  Italians."  Although  strong  Protestants,  they  do  not  mean  by  their 
appeals  on  this  occasion  to  enkindle  a  single  feeling  of  animosity  to- 
ward the  Roman  Catholics  or  toward  their  faith.  They  merely  want  to 
express  their  satisfaction  and  joy  that  American  principles  are  making 
such  marked  progress  on  the  soil  of  Europe. 

We  regret  to  see  that  in  all  parts  of  the  country  Roman  <  'atholics  are 
making  this  question  of  the  government  of  Italy  a  religions  question. 
They  mistake  the  temper  and  the  instincts  of  Americans  if  they  think 
that  this  unwise  procedure  will  strengthen  them  in  this  country.  They 
show  a  strange  unconsciousness  of  the  superior  majesty  and  power 
of  purely  spiritual  influences,  and  of  the  history  of  their  own  Church  in 
this  country,  where  its  growth  and  influence  have  been  achieved  with- 
out the  slightest  aid  of  the  temporal  power.  And  if  the  Pope  is  the 
inheritor  of  the  powers  given  to  Peter,  does  he  need  the  power  and 
prestige  of  a  petty  principality  to  enable  him  to  maintain  his  position. 
as  head  of  the  Church  which  worships  Peter's  Master— who  "knew  not 
where  to  lay  his  head  ?  " 

Tlcse  views,  and  others  of  equally  important  character,  will  be  pre- 
sented next  Thursday  evening  by  our  great  poet  and  statesman  without 
other.  Mr.  Bryant;  by  the  divine,  whose  heart  always  overflows  with 
sympathy  for  every  triumph  of  popular  rights,  Mr.  Beecher ;  ly  Mr. 
Parke  Godwin,  who  probably  understands  the  history  and  bearings  of 
the  great  question  to  be  discussed  more  thoroughly  than  an^  other  of 
the  speakers  announced  ;  by  Mr.  Greeley,  whose  life  long  record  of  liber 
a liiy  toward  Roman  Catholics  enables  him  to  dismiss  the  apprehensions 
that  have  prevented  ^nany  of  our  most  eminent  public  servants  from 
•  pi'  >sing  their  real  sympathies  with  the  Italians;  li\  men  of  broad 
views  and  unsectarian  liberality,  like  General  Dix,  Dr.  Bellows,  Judge 
Emol  t .  and  others  of  oat  tonal  fame. 

A    <  H0B1  9   OP   SI  \ir\rm    W  mi    t  PALY. 

The  demonstration,  which  will  to-night   be  made  at   the  A-cademj  of 


16  UNITY     OF     ITALY. 

Music,  of  American  sympathy  with  the  accomplishment  of  Italian  Unity, 
will  be  of  the  most  impressive  character.  The  meeting  will  not  be  a 
chance  assemblage  drawn  together  by  the  liberal  use  of  attractive  "post- 
ers," but  will  consist  of  the  representatives  of  the  most  thoughtful,  re- 
flective, and  truly  American  classes  of  the  city.  The  movement  which 
will  be  consummated  to-night  has  from  the  start  been  in  the  hands  of 
men  of  this  character,  whose  names  are  known  all  over  the  country  and 
honored  wherever  they  are  known. 

The  reluctance  of  some  timid  politicians  to  publicly  favor  this  move- 
ment will  not  materially  impair  its  significance.  Intelligent  observers 
of  the  expressions  of  American  sentiment,  botli  here  and  abroad,  will 
understand  this  reluctance  and  take  it  into  account  in  estimating  how 
far  the  meeting  to-night  really  represents  the  best  thought  and  the  most 
earnest  conviction  of  the  most  influential  classes  of  Americans.  They 
will  see  that  while  a  few  politicians  have  dodged  the  public  issue,  some 
of  our  ablest  statesmen,  philosophers,  poets,  and  literary  men  have  met 
it  frankly  and  manfully. 

Such  a  chorus  of  sympathy  with  free  and  united  Italy  will  make  it- 
self heard  across  the  Atlantic,  and  will  assure  the  friends  of  free  insti- 
tutions everywhere  that  Americans  do  not  love  liberty  selfishly,  but 
rejoice  in  her  triumph  everywhere.  The  voices  that  will  be  heard  to- 
night will  be  still  more  emphatic  and  eloquent,  and  will  speak  the  sen- 
timent of  those  Americans,  in  all  sections,  who  are  truest  to  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  our  noblest  development  and  prosperity  have  been 
secured. 


[Commercial  Advertiser.  ] 
THE    ITALIAN    MEETING. 

The  meeting  to-night  in  recognition  of  Italian  Unity  will  give  expres- 
sion to  a  generous  American  feeling.  It  should  not  be  in  any  sense  a 
religious  meeting.  It  recognizes  a  great  political  fact  in  harmony  with 
the  American  idea.  The  Italians  have  voted  to  have  Victor  Emmanuel 
for  King,  and  the  vote  of  the  ( 'ity  of  Rome  was  almost  a  unit  in  favor 
of  this  new  relation.  To  be  sure,  there  goes  with  this  the  deposition 
of  the  Pope  from  temporal  power,  but  his  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical 
relations  are  unchanged.  They  are,  indeed,  re-enforced,  for  his  authority 
is  now  based  simply  on  its  moral  power.  The  useless  symbol  of  temporal 
sway,  for  these  many  years  a  mere  bauble,  is  now  replaced  by  the  reli- 
gious and  spiritual  influence,  the  exertion  of  which  has  been  for  many 
centuries  the  surest  and  truest  test  of  the  real  authorit}7  of  the  Papacv. 
Italy  pledges  security  to  the  Pope  and  absolute  independence  in  all  his 
ecclesiastical  functions.  That  Italy  now  is  free  and  united  is  a  source 
of  gratification  to  Americans,  and  they  may  appropriately  express  their 
sympathies  and  feelings  in  regard  to  a  movement  so  important. 


PKOCEEDESTGS  OE  THE   MEETING 


The  celebration  opened  with  a  choice  selection  of  music  from 
Italian    composers,  performed    by    Grafulla's    band,    after    whirl,   the 

meeting    was    called    t -,!,.,•    by    Bon.    James    W.    Beekman,   who 

nominated  Major-General  John  A.  Dix,  late  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  France,  as  presiding  officer.  The 
nomination  was  enthusiastically  received,  and  General  Dix,on  taking 
the  .-hair.  pro<  eeded  to  deliver  the  introductory  address. 

D.  I>.  Lord,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  meeting,  then  presented  the  names 
of  the  following  Vice-Presidents,  which  were  unanimously  accepted: 


II'in.  K.  I ».  Morgan. 

Hon.  James  W.   Beekman. 

Hon.  William  E.  Dodge. 

Hon.  W.  B.  Ogden. 

Hon.  Hi  ham   Barney. 

Hon.  Horace  <  Greeley. 

James  Brown. 

W.  II.  Aspinwall. 

M  lrshall  < ).  Roberts. 

Henry  < ;.  Stebbins. 

A.  A.   Low. 

Robert  Lenox  Kennedy. 

Peteb  '  Iooper. 

Thos.  II  mi.  Faile. 

s.  I;.  ( Shittenden. 

<  ii  lrles  Butler. 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  LL.D. 
Fran<  i-  Lieber,  LL.D. 
R.   w.   Weston. 

<  '■>  ims  W.  Field. 
W.  II.  Webb. 

•  I  A<  K80H  S.  SCHULTZ. 

I  rEO.  W.  Lane. 
Otis  D.  Swan. 
W.  R.   Vermilyjs. 


<  rEORGE    T.  STRONG. 

Fred.  ( ;.  De  Peyster. 
Morris  K.  Jesi  p. 

<  II  LRLES   P.  KlRKLAND. 

Willard  Parker,  M.D. 

Willi  \M    (  >RTON. 

Fred.  .1.  Foster. 
Theo.  W.  Rij  by. 

Li:  Gb  \ni.  I'..  (  '\nn<,n. 

W'm.   Remsen. 

•  Ion  viii  \n  ST1  KG]  3. 

A  lex.  \'  \n  Rensselaer. 
(  ii  lrles  N.  Talbot. 

Gl  31  \\    S<  ii\\  \i;. 

A.  R.  We i mor]  . 
Robert  J,  Li\  [ngston. 
W.  A.  Booth. 

C.  V.  S.  Roosevelt. 
I>.  Willis  •)  lmes. 
Cortlandi   Palmer. 

W  U3HINGT0N    M.    VeRMILI  i  . 

F.  W.  Rhinelander. 
L.  P.  Morton. 
Henri   Clews. 


\NI>  others. 


The  Secretary  then  read  some  of  the  following  letters 
answer  to  invitations  to  attend  the  meeting: — 


IVCHl     III 


LETTERS. 


FROM  HON.   SCHUYLER  COLFAX,  VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES. 

Washington,  Jan.  6,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  It  would  afford  roe  great  pleasure  to  accept  the  invi- 
tation of  your  Committee  to  attend  the  meeting  next  week,  to  celebrate 
the  completion  of  Italian  Unity,  if  it  were  within  my  power.  But 
public  duties,  devolved  upon  me  by  the  people,  and  which  have  a  prior 
claim  on  my  time,  forbid  my  leaving  the  Capital,  while  Congress  is  in 
session,  except  in  the  rarest  possible  cases.  While  I  recognize  to  the 
fullest  extent  the  considerations  of  propriety  which  restrain  American 
citizens,  and  especially  those  in  official  life,  from  active  interference 
with  the  affairs  of  other  lands,  by  illegal  propagandism,  improper  inter- 
vention, &c,  there  is  nothing  in  either  propriety  or  usage  which  pre- 
vents the  open  expression  of  our  joy  when  foreign  countries  take  a  step 
forward,  to  assimilate  their  institutions,  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree, 
with  those  of  which  we  are  so  justly  proud,  and  which,  with  God's  pro- 
vidence blessing  them,  have  achieved  for  us,  as  a  nation,  our  wonderful 
historical  progress  and  development.  I  can,  therefore,  heartily  respond 
to  those  emphatic  words  of  Victor  Emmanuel  to  the  Italian  Parliament : 
"  Italy  is  free  and  one.  It  now  depends  on  us  only  to  render  her  great 
and  happy." 

We,  who  live  here  under  the  protection  of  a  Constitution  which 
unites  so  many  millions  of  people  into  one  Nation,  which  forbids  the 
establishment  of  any  State  religion,  and  which  guarantees  the  free  exer- 
cise of  all  religious  thought,  can  realize  the  full  import  of  those  short 
but  weighty  words  of  the  Italian  King — free  and  one.  And  he  says 
truly,  that  it  depends  on  her  people  only,  thus  united  and  free,  to  ren- 
der their  nation  great  and  happy.  I  would  rejoice  even  more  if  Italy 
had  reached  the  summit  of  true  popular  sovereignty  which  our  Repub- 
lic has  attained,  for  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  republics,  with 
wise  men  at  their  heads,  are  possible  on  all  continents  and  in  all  paral- 
lels of  latitude.  She  has,  however,  chosen  her  own  form  of  government, 
and  we  cannot  challenge  her  decision. 

But  I  may  add  that  nothing  is  clearer  than  if  she  desires  to  be  great 
and  happy,  she  must  establish  and  maintain,  as  the  very  corner-stoue 


LET  IIK-.  l!l 

of  United  Italy,  civil  and  religious  liberty.      The  equality  of  all  under 
the  law,  by  protecting  in  Courts  and  Parliament   the  civil  rights  of  the 

1 rest  as  energetically  ami  faithfully  as  those  of  the  richesl  ami  most 

powerful;  ami  as  the  fitting  adjund  of  this  great  idea  "t'  <i\il  liberty, 
the  righl  of  all  to  worship  God  as  their  individual  conscience  com- 
mands, guaranteed  alike  to  Jew  ami  Gentile,  to  Protestant  and  Catho- 
lic, to  priest  and  layman,  to  King  and  Pope.  In  this  sign  they  will 
conquer;  for  out  <>f  this  new  life  of  civil  ami  religious  liberty  will  flow 
peace  and  happiness,  progress  ami  prosperity,  with  material  and  national 
development  ami  advancement,  as  surely  as  healthful  streams  flowfrom 
fountains  of  purity.      Respectfully  yours, 

SCHUYLEB    Col. FAX. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  Esq.,  Chairman  Committee,  etc. 


FROM   HON.   HAMILTON  PISH,  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  OF  THE  V.  S. 

Washington,  .Ian.  In,   187  I. 

Mv  Dear  Sir:  It  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  attend  the  meeting  to 
celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity,  on  the  li'th  inst.  Ii 
may  lie  questioned  how  far  the  restraints  of  the  official  position  of  one 
broughl  into  relations  with  foreign  Powers  may  allow  him  to  take  pari 
in  the  proceedings  of  a  meeting,  whose  objects  loot  \<<  the  internal  rela- 
tions of  a  government  with  which  the  United  States  are  on  the  mosl 
friendly  terms. 

Hut  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  the  people  <>f  the  United 
.  who  have  so  recently  passed  the  ordeal  ofa  distressing  civil 
war  in  the  defence  and  maintenance  of  their  national  unity,  should 
sympathize  with  Italy  on  tie- completion  of  that  unitj  which  has  so 
long  been  the  aspiration  of  her  statesmen  and  patriots,  ami  there  can 
he  no  reason  to  restrain  the  expression  of  joy,  whicb  every  American 
feels  in  the  advance  mad'-  in  other  lands  toward  the  incorporation 
with  their  Institutions  of  the  principles,  which  we  deem  t<>  underlie 
the  welfare  and  the  happiness  of  the  great  masses  which  constitute  the 

eral  nations  of  the  world,  and  we  need  no<  hesitate  in  giving  explos- 
ion to  the  gratification  which  we  cannol  fail  to  experience  in  the  adop 
tion,  w  h  srever  ii  m  ly  be  adopted,  of  liberal  constitutional  government, 

iring  bo  the  citizen  th9  civil  and  religious  libertj   which  we  believe 
lo  he  the  natural  riirht  of  man. 

With  greal  respect,  \^uv  obedienl  servant, 

I  I    Will    ins      Fl8H. 

■> 


2<l  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

FROM  HON.   C.  DELANO,  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

I  >i;i>artment  of  the  Interior,  ) 

Washington,  D.  C,  Tuesday,  Jan.  3,  1871.  j 

Dear  Sir:  Four  favor  of  December  24  is  received.  The  Secretary 
directs  me  to  say  in  reply,  that  official  duties  will  prevent  his  being 
present  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  on  the  12th  of  January. 

He  exceedingly  regrets  that  he  cannot  accept  your  kind  invitation. 
1 1  is  a  theme  upon  which  he  would  he  pleased  to  speak,  and  one  of 
peculiar  interest  at  the  present  time. 

Be  pleased  to  accept  his  thanks  for  your  kindness,  and  his  best 
wishes  for  the  success  of  the  meeting. 

Yours  truly,  J.  L.  Delano,  Chief  Clerk. 


FROM   HON.  CHARLES    SUMNER,  CHAIRMAN   OF  THE  TJ.  S.   SENATE 
COMMITTEE  ON  FOREIGNRELATIONS. 

Senate  Chamber,  Jan.   10,   1871. 

Dear  Sir  :  Though  not  in  person  at  your  great  meeting  to  commem- 
orate what  you  happily  call  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity,  I  shall 
be  there  in  heart  and  soul.  A  lover  of  Italy,  and  anxious  for  her 
independence  as  a  nation,  I  have  for  years  longed  to  see  this  day. 
Italy  without  Rome  was  like  the  body  without  its  head.  Rome  is  the 
national  head  of  Italy,  and  is  now  at  last  joined  with  the  body  to 
which  it  belongs,  never  again  to  be  separated. 

How  many  hearts  have  throbbed  with  alternate  despair  and  hope, 
watching  the  too  tardy  fulfilment  of  the  patriot  aspiration  for  that 
United  Italy  which  shall  possess  once  more  the  Capitoline  Hill  and 
the  ancient  Forum,  the  Colosseum  and  its  immense  memories  of  gran- 
deur, together  with  the  later  dome  of  Michelangelo,  in  itself  the 
emblem  of  all-embracing  unity.  This  was  the  aspiration  of  Cavour. 
I  remember  the  great  man  well,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  for 
independence,  in  a  small  apartment,  which  was  bed-i'oom  *  and  office, 
while  he  conversed  on  the  future  of  Italy,  and  with  tranquil  voice 
declared  that  all  must  be  free  to  the  Adriatic,  and  that  Rome  must 
be  the  national  Capital.  I  need  not  say  that  I  listened  with  delight 
and  sympathy.  He  died  before  all  was  free  to  the  Adriatic,  and  while 
Rome  was  still  ruled  by  the  Fapal  Autocrat.  At  last  his  desires  are 
accomplished.  The  liberation  of  Venice  was  naturally  followed  by  the 
liberation  of  Rome,  and  both,  when  free,  helped  complete  the  national 
unity.  Xo  longer  merely  a  "geographical  expression," according  to  the 
insulting  phrase  of  the  First  Napoleon,  Italy  is  now  a  nation,  whose 
great  capstone  is  Rome. 


LETT]  RS. 


21 


|!"-N"1"1  ^etriumph  of  the  Nation,  I  see  in  this  evenl  two  other 
things  of  surpassing  value  in  the  history  of  Liberty.  First,  the  union 
oi  Church  and  State  isoverthrown  in  its  greatest  example.  The  Pope 
remains  pastor  of  a  might;  flock,  but  withoul  temporal  power  Here 
isaprecedent  which, beginning  at  Rome,  musl  be  followed  everywhere 
until  Church  and  State  are  ,„>  longer  conjoined,  and  all  areat  liberty 
to  worship  God  according  to  conscience,  withoul  compulsion  from 
man-  Che  other  consequence  is  hardlj  less  important.  The  Pope  was 
an    absolute  sovereign  for    life.     |„  the   overthrow    of  his    temporal 

power,  absolutism  receives  a  blow,  and   the  people  every> re  obtain 

new  assurance  for  the  future.  Here  is  occasion  for  joy  and  hope.  There 
is  no  Italian,  who  may  no!  uow  repeal  the  words  of  AJfieri  without 
dooming  himself  to  exile  : — 

Loco,  ove  8d  un  contro  tutti  basta, 
I  "atria  non  m'  .'■.  benche  natio  terreno. 

The  poet,   who  loved   liberty  so  well,  was    righl    when  be  refused  to 

recognize  as  his  country  that   place  "where  one  al sufficed  against 

all.       But  tins  was  the  condition  of  Rome  under  the  Papal  power 

Therefore,  uot  only  in  sympathy  with  Italy,  but  in  devotion  to  Hu- 
man Rights,  do  I  rejoice  in  this  day. 

Full  of  good  wishes  for  Ctaly,  happy  in  whal  she  has  already  accom- 
plished, and  hopeful  forthe  future,  I  remain,  dear  Sir,  very  faithfully 
yours, 

<  'ilAlil.Ks    Si  MNER. 


PROM  EON.  U.  \.  BUCKINGHAM,  r.  s.  SENATOR. 

x  >hwi<  ii.  Conn.,  M [ay,  Jan.  2,  1871 

Dead  Sir:   5Tour  esteemed  favor  is  al   hand,     [f  ]  vras  able   to  do 
■|,,s'""  '"  the  subject,  which  will   be  considered  al    the  meeting  of  the 
12th  of  January,  to  which  you  so  cordially  unite  with  others   in   invit- 
,"-  ""•  :""1  if  other  duties  did  uol  prevent,  I    would  gladly  be  present 
,;'"  M  '  cannoi  ,'',,■  "'"  above  reasons,  I  beg  to  assure  you  thai    I   cor- 
,u''u>   Jympathize  with  the  I. all,,,,,  who  have  long  been  struggling  for 
,r""'1"1"-  :""1  ;""  confident  thai  the  recenl  revolution   has  brought  thai 
P^futoa  purer  atmosphere  and   on  ma  higher  plan,,  both  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty. 

Trulj  yours, 

W.   A.    Hi  .  KINGH  \\\. 

I  ROM   EON.  EENRI    WILSON,  U.  s.  SENATOR 

Washington,  Tuesday,  -la,,.  10    187] 
'"  u:Sll::  Public  duties  will  uol    permil   me  to  be  preseul  and  , 
Hcipatewith  the  citizens  of  N.  u  Yovh  in  celebrating  « the  c pletion 


22  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

of  Italian  Unity,"  and  in  expressing  "  to  United  Italy  the  sympathy 
and  congratulations  of  the  American  people  on  the  emancipation  of 
Borne  and  its  occupation  as  the  future  capital  of  the  nation,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  free  vote  of  the  Roman  citizens." 

Though  I  cannot  be  with  you,  I  join  heart  and  soul  in  the  expression 
of  the  congratulations  of  the  commercial  Capital  of  the  Republic  for 
what  has  been  achieved  by  "  the  free  vote  of  the  Roman  citizens,"  and 
in  the  expression  of  the  hope  that  "civil  and  religious  liberty"  will  be 
established  and  guarded  by  the  people  of  United  Italy.  Surely  Ameri- 
can citizens,  who  are  imbued  with  the  vital  spirit  of  their  own  insti- 
tutions, will  gladly  join  in  sending  such  congratulations  and  hopes  to 

Italian  people. 

Yours  truly,  Henry  "Wilson. 


FBOM  HON.  LYMAN  TRUMBULL,  U.  S.  SENATOR. 

Washington,  Monday,  Jan.  2,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Your  very  kind  note,  with  the  invitation  to  partici- 
pate  in  the  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  January  12, 
to  express  to  United  Italy  the  sympathy  of  the  American  people  on 
the  emancipation  of  Rome,  and  the  establishment  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  throughout  the  Peninsula,  was  duly  received. 

My  feelings  are  in  entire  accord  with  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and 
but  for  the  pressure  of  important  duties  here,  I  should  be  most  happy 
to  attend  and  take  part  in  it. 

The  opening  of  Italy  to  liberal  ideas,  and  the  unlocking  of  Rome 
itself  to  the  advancing  civilization  and  intelligence  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  are  great  events  in  the  world's  history.  If  with  civil  and 
religious  freedom  guaranteed  to  all,  the  mysteries  and  doctrines  of 
Rome  can  stand  the  test  of  free  thought  and  free  discussion,  let  them 
prevail  and  become  universal ;  if  not,  let  them  give  way  to  a  purer 
faith,  and  a  higher  and  better  civilization. 

May  the  time  speedily  come  when  not  only  in  Rome,  but  at  Jeru- 
salem also,  all  men  shall  be  as  secure  in  their  civil  rights,  and  as  free 
to  worship,  as  they  now  are  in  independent  America. 

Yours  very  truly,  Lyman  Trumbull. 


FROM  HON.  J.  M.  HOWARD,  U.  S.  SENATOR. 

Detroit,  Mich.,  Saturday,  Dec.  31,  1870. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  with  pleasure  the  invitation  to  be  pres- 
ent   at  the  celebration  of  the  completion  of  "  Italian  Unity,"  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  on  the  12th  prox. 


LET1  ERS. 


23 


Although  unable  bo  be  present,  my  sympathies  will  be  with  you. 

The  National  Unity  of  [taly— the  Independence  of  Italy-  the  Nation 
of  [taly  !  Wliv.  these  words,  meaningless  for  a  thousand  years,  have, 
in  these  latter  days,  acquired  a  significance,  a  power  which  stirs  the 
scholar's  hearl   and  makes  the  soul  of  every  Lover  of  liberty  leap  for 

joy. 

May  the  Italian  people  remember  through  what  ages  of  night,  and 
sorrow,  and  despotism  they  and  their  ancestors  have  passed  in  order  to 
reach  this  consummation !  and  may  they  have  the  moral  courage,  the 
steady  courage,  the  manly  courage  to  maintain  liberty  and  good 
ffovernmenl  in  that  classic  land  to  which  civilized  man  has  ever  looked, 
as  the  cradle  of  modern  science  and  ait  ! 

Truly  yours,  J-  M.  Howard. 


FROM  HON.  H.  W.  CORBETT,  U.  S.  SENATOR. 

Washington,  Jan.  2,  1871. 
Dear  Sir:  In  response  to  your  invitation  to  be  presenl  at  the 
Academy  of  Music  on  the  12th  inst.,tojoin  with  you  in  expressions  of 
sympathy  and  congratulations  that  Rome  is  once  more  united  under 
the  Italian  I  Government, and  is  to  be  the  future  <  iapital  of  the  nation,  I 
have  toexpress  my  regret  thai  public  dutiesal  our  Capital  will  prevent. 
The  objects  of  the  meeting  have  my  most  hearty  approval.  My  sincere 
desire  is,  that  Rome  may  long  enjoy  the  civil  and  religious  liberty 
which  this  unity  gives  her.  CTnder  these  may  she  again  rise  to  her  for- 
mer ancienl  pre-eminence  and  power!     Very  respectfully, 

II.    \V.   <    mi;  I.I   IT. 


FROM  HON.  GEO.  F.  EDMONDS,  U.  S.  SENATOR. 

W  V.SHINGTON,  Jan.  2,  187  I. 
Dear  Siu  :  I  have  received  the  invitation  of, a  large  number  of  the 
mosl  worthy  citizens  of  Nev.  fork  to  attend  and  participate  in  a  me<  t- 
Lng  to  be  held  on  the  12th  inst.,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  the  sym- 
pathy, &c,  of  the  A.merican  people  with  recenl  events  in  [taly,  and 
"the  consequenl  establishmenl  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  throughoul 
the  Peninsula."  I  am  truly  sons  that  it  will  nol  be  practicable  for  me 
toattend.  Certainly,  few  events  in  recenl  history  have  given  greater 
promise  of  large  results  in  the  benign  progress  of  true  liberty,  than 

those  you  are  to  celebrate ;  and  I  trusl  thai   there  is  to  be  eaction 

following  this  long  advance,  as  is  \<-,  \  often  the  case  «  ith  Bundrj  greal 
movements.  Bui  whatever  may  be  instore  lor  thai  interesting  people 
ih  the  near  future,  much  is  surely  gained  thai  cannol  !»■  lost. 


24  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

' '  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages 
One  increasing  purpose  runs  ; 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened 
With  the  process  of  the  suns." 

At  last,  after  many  trials,  the  fair 

"  Land  to  memory  and  to  freedom  dear," 

will,  I  hope,  again  be  a  Republic,  and  a  Roman  Senate,  wiser  and  purer 
than  its  elder  type,  again  hold  the  seat  of  Justice  and  of  Law  among  the 
seven  hills.  Thus  hoping,  I  join  in  your  felicitations  upon  what  has 
already  been  achieved,  and  am,  very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

Geo.  F.  Edmonds. 


FROM  HON.  0.  P.  MORTON,  U.  S.  SENATOR. 

United  States  Senate  Chamber,  ) 
Washington,  January  11,  1871.      j" 

Gentlemen  :  Your  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  to  be 
held  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  Thursday 
evening,  January  12th,  1871,  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian 
Unity  in  accordance  with  the  free  vote  of  the  Roman  citizens,  and  the 
consequent  establishment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  throughout  the 
Peninsula,  is  before  me. 

My  official  engagements  will  prevent  me  from  being  present  at  the 
meeting,  but  I  desire  to  express  my  earnest  sympathy  with  the  purpose 
for  which  it  is  to  be  held.  To  refuse  to  recognize  the  light  of  the 
people  of  Rome  to  choose  their  own  form  of  government  would  be  to 
deny  the  principle,  which  constitutes  the  foundation  of  our  own.  We 
hold  that  governments  should  exist  by  the  consent  of  the  governed — 
that  all  men  are  created  equal,  and  cannot  of  right  be  made  the 
involuntary  subjects  of  any  prince,  potentate,  or  master;  and  we  deny 
the  Divine  Right  of  kings,  or  of  any  human  being,  by  whatever  name 
or  title,  to  rule  over  the  people  of  any  State. 

We  believe  in  the  separation  of  Church  and  State — the  right  of 
every  man  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  con- 
science— and  that  the  promotion  of  Christianity  will  be  best  secured  by 
the  observance  of  these  principles.  The  evidence  seems  conclusive 
that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  Rome  have  for  years  desired  to 
change  their  form  of  government,  and  to  unite  themselves  with  the 
kingdom  of  Italy,  of  which  they  are,  geographically,  and  by  blood, 
language,  and  interest,  a  natural  part.  To  deny  their  right  to  this 
union  would  be  a  threat  against  the  life  of  our  own  free  institutions. 
We  do  not  say  this  in  a  spirit  of  hostility,  but  in  vindication  of  the 


LETTERS.  25 

right  of  self-government,  which   we  believe   to  be  the  gift   of  God  to 
•  ■\  ery  nation.     I  am, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

(>.    P.  Morton. 


FROM    HON.  II    B.  ANTHONY.  U.  s.  SKNAToK. 

United  States  Senate  Chamber,  ) 
\\  \-iiim.  roN,   January    1 1.    L871.  \ 

Sir:  I  have  your  note  inviting  me  to  attend  the  meeting  t<>  1).'  held 

in    New    York,  to  give  expression  to  the   sympathy  of  the  American 

people  for  Free  and  United   Italy. 

I  regret  thai  mypublic  engagements  do  not  permit  me  t<>  participate 

in  an  occasion  of  so  much  interest  to  every  American  citizen,    -toevery 

friend  (»f  freedom  and   civilization. 

Faithfully  yours, 

H.  I).  An  i'hony. 


Housk  or   Kkpresentatives, 
Washington,  D.  ('..  Jan.  1<> 


FROM  HOX.  J.  A.  GARFIELD,  M.  C. 

:\  i  \ti\  i:s.  ; 
►,  L871.      f 

Deab  Sir:  I  have  delayed  answering  your  letter  until  now,  in  the 
hope  that  I  might  be  able  to  accept  your  invitation  to  address  the 
meeting  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  on  the  evening  of  January  12.  I 
greatly  regret  that  1  find  it  impossible  to  leave  here  at  that  time. 
The  object  of  the  meeting,  as  expressed  in  your  circular,  meets  my 
hearty  approval. 

Among  the  remarkable  events  of  L870,  none  is  more  important 
in  its  relation  to  the  progress  of  liberal  ideas  than  the  completion 
of  Italian  Unity.  The  decade  just  closed  has  witnessed  the  rapid 
advance  among  nearly  all  nation-,  of  two  great  ideas:  National  Uniti 
and  the  Right  of  Suffrage.  The  peopleofthe  United  States,  believing 
in  these  ideas,  cannot  fail  to  sympathize  with  any  nation  where  thej 
bave  made  progress. 

When  I  was  in  Florence,  in  the  stirring  days  of  September,  1867,  a 
prominent    [talian  citizen,  speaking  of  the   political   prospects  of  his 

eon n try,  pointed  with  pride  to  the  last  paragraph  of  Sisn di's" History 

of  Liberty  in  Italy,"  where  that  great  historian,  writing  in  1832,  Bays: 
"Italj  i    crushed  ;  but  her  hearl  still  heats  with  the  love  of  liberty,  of 

virtue,  and  glory.     She  is  chai I  and  covered   with  blood;  but  she 

still  understands  her  strength  and  her  future  destinj  :  she  is  insulted 
by  those  to  whom  she  opened  the  career  of  all  progress;  but  Bhe  feels 
thai   Bhe  is  destined  to  take  the  lead  again,  and    Ei 


26  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

rest  until  the  nation,  which  in  the  dark  ages  lighted  the  torch  of 
civilization  with  that  of  liberty,  shall  herself  be  able  to  enjoy  the  light 
which  she  created."  "  This,"  said  the  Italian,  "  was  prophecy  in  1832, 
but  in  ISC, 7  we  are  witnessing  its  fulfilment." 

Italy  can  now  rejoice,  that  popular  suffrage  has  restored  her  ancient 
capital   and  completed  her  National  Unity. 

'I'll is  event  has  also  illustrated  another  important  lesson,  which 
Americans  learned  long  ago,  that  no  political  organization  is  wise 
enough  or  mire  enough  to  control  and  direct  the  sacred  interests  of 
religion,  and  that  no  ecclesiastical  organization  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury can  wisely  manage  the  political  interests  of  a  great  nation. 

The  revival  of  Italian  commerce  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  political 
restoration  of  Rome  to  the  nation. 

The  completion  of  that  great  enterprise  which  permits  the  locomotive, 
without  obstruction,  to  lead  commerce  under  the  Alps,  and  which  unites 
<  ialais  with  Brindisi,  makes  it  possible  for  some  new  poet  to  celebrate 
a  Brundusian  journey,  as  much  grander  than  that  which  Horace  im- 
mortalized, as  the  civilization  of  the  day  surpasses  that  of  Imperial 

Rome. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.   A.  Garfield. 


FROM  HON.  W.  STRONG,  ASSOCIATE  JUSTICE  SUPREME  COURT,  U.  S. 

Philadelphia,  Dec.  23,  1870. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Yours  of  the  20th  inst.  was  handed  to  me  yesterday, 
as  I  was  about  leaving  Washington  to  spend  the  holidays  at  home. 

I  should  be  gratified  if  I  could  attend  the  proposed  meeting  in  New 
York,  but  it  will  be  epiite  impossible.  Our  Court  is  in  such  a  condi- 
tion at  Washington,  that  my  brethren  will  not  consent  to  my  absence 
in  January,  even  a  single  day,  and  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  right  for 
me  to  be  absent. 

I  sympathize  fully  in  the  avowed  objects  of  your  meeting,  rejoice  in 
a  completed  Italian  Unity,  and  in  the  consequent  extension  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty;  and  it  is  with  regret  that  I  find  myself  compelled  to 
remain  away  from  what  ought  to  be  a  great  gathering. 
With  much  regard,  I  am  very  truly  yours, 

W.  Strong. 


FROM  HON.   SAM.  F.  MILLER,  ASSOCIATE  JUSTICE    SUPREME 

COURT,  U.   S. 

Washington,  Jan.  2,  1871. 
<  rENTLEMEN :   I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  28th  ult.,  inviting 
me  to  be  present  at  a  meeting  to  express  the  sympathy  and  congratula- 


LEVI  EE8.  -  « 


(dons  of  the  American  people  with  the  [talians  on  the  consummation  of 
their  National  Unity  by  the  emancipation  of  Rome. 

Of  all  the  modern  changes  in  European  Governments,  I  have  regarded 
the  steady  progress  of  Italy,  in  establishing  her  unity  and  her  independ- 

ce  as  a  nation,  with  mosi  hope  and  favor,  because  I  believe  thai  the 
promise  of  stability  and  progress  in  free  government  and  self-govern- 
ment is  there  the  most  encouraging.  That  the  incorporation  of  the 
Roma  i  States  with  the  remainder  Df  Etaly  was  essential  to  this  I  can- 
not doubt  It',  therefore,  I  could  take  part  in  any  public  demonstra- 
tion it  would  give  me  pleasure  above  all  others  to  participate  in  tins. 
But  the  inexorable  duty,  imposed  by  a  docket  of  nearly  five  hundred 
cases  awaiting  decision  by  the  Supreme  Courl  of  the  United  States, 
forbids  that  pleasure. 

1  am,  gentlemen,  very  sincerely  your  fellow-sympathizer, 

Sam.  V.  Miller. 


FROM  HON.  J.  D.  COX.  I. ATI.  SE<  RETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ClN(  inn  VI  I.  -'an.    i.    1871. 

My  Dear  Sib:  Your  kind  note  of  the  28th  is  received,  and  adds 
to  my  regret  that  my  duties  here  will  prevent  my  being  in  New  York, 
at  the  meeting  in  celebration  of  Italian  Unity.  I  have  felt  so  sincere 
and  earnest  a  pleasure  in  witnessing  each  step  taken  toward  making 
that  great  people  the  unit  it  ought  to  be,  that  it  would  have  been  a 
,nal  pleasure  to  me  to  1»'  present  at  the  meeting  on  tli-'  12th. 

Verj    t  inly  \  Miu  8,  .1 .    I  >.  <  c\. 


I ■|;i,.\]   HON.  0.  0.  HOWARD,   BRIGADIER-GENERAL    \M'  I  .  S   COMBOS 
3I0NEE  OF  THE  BUREA1    OF   FREEDMEN. 

Washington,  l>.  C,  Dec.  28,  1870. 

Ms  Dear  Sib:  Sour  flattering  invitation  t'»  me  to  be  present  for 
the  purpose  of  joining  in  celebrating  "  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity, 
and  to  express  to  United  [taly  the  sympathy  and  congratulations  of 
the   American   people  on   the  emancipation  "t'    Rome,  its  occupation 

the  future  capital  of  the  nation,  in  accordance  with  the  free  vote  of 
tin-  Roman  citizens,  and  the  consequent  establishment  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  throughout  the  Peninsula,"  I  have  just  received.  No 
:,t  in  this  wonderful  age,  except  our  own  recognition  of  manhood 
in  emancipation  and  enfranchisement,  tri \ <s  me  morejoj  than  tins  that 
\(pii   celebrate. 

The  establishment  of  civil  liberty  throughout  Italy,  the  giving  the 
citizens  a  voice  in  the  choice  of  rulers,  the  elevation  of  Rome  to  its 


28  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

old  position  of  honor,  have  seemed  scarcely  possible — the  dream  of 
visionary,  impracticable  men.  But  I  should  have  said  that  religious 
liberty,  i.e.,  the  right  of  a  man  to  read  the  Bible  and  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  without  constraint  or 
hindrance,  something  absolutely  unattainable,  without  a  half-century 
of  faithful  Christian  teaching,  at  least,  after  the  temporal  power  of 
the  Pope  had  been  overthrown.  So  that  my  joy  is  only  exceeded  by 
my  astonishment,  that  a  free  vote  has  had  such  immediate  results. 
Possibly  the  results  are  not  yet  ;  still,  how  glorious  is  the  prospect 
that  this  people,  from  whom  the  old  love  of  freedom  and  honor 
seemed  to  have  been  crushed  out,  should  rise  in  their  might  and 
assert  by  a  practical  indisputable  decree  their  right  to  think,  and 
speak,  and  act  for  themselves  ! 

King  William,  or  Emperor  William,  may  rejoice  in  imperial  power 
— a  power  that  mainly  comes  from  the  will  of  a  free,  educated  peo- 
ple, but  he  cannot  put  back  the  Pope,  as  some  declare.  He  would 
violate  the  sense  of  right  of  his  own  Protestant  subjects  by  so  doing, 
no  less  than  that  of  the  men  who  are  now  enjoying  the  new  birth  of 
freedom.  And  should  he  be  so  inclined  in  this  temporary  success, 
how  fearfully  would  he  rue  the  day  of  his  folly,  for  surely  God  is  giv- 
ing men  the  power  to  discover  the  causes  of  their  thraldom,  and  to 
remove  them  !  Positive  equality  of  rights  as  exercised  in  little 
Christian  bodies,  soon  bursts  all  bonds  and  gives  freedom  to  the 
State.  Its  exercise  conflicts  with  tyranny  wherever  found ;  whether 
in  ignorance  or  vice,  whether  in  a  half-sham  republic  or  an  absolute 
monarchy,  whether  in  the  -folly  of  atheism  or  in  the  superstitions  of 
bigotry  in  religion,  the  conflict  is  joined,  and  in  time  the  victory  is 
sure.  For  the  principle  that  one  man  with  God  on  his  side,  or 
better,  with  Christ  in  his  heart,  is  stronger  than  a  host  opposed,  gives 
security  in  the  darkest  times. 

This  being  the  case,  I  hope  our  Christian  people  will  be  wide 
awake;  and  as  they  followed  our  armies  with  Christian  schools  and 
free  churches,  so  they  will  go  to  help  their  brethren  in  Italy  to  mul- 
tiply the  nuclei  of  freedom,  to  enable  them  at  Rome,  by  free  schools 
and  free  churches,  to  understand  and  put  in  practice  Paul's  letter  to 
their  fathers  ;  whose  doctrines  will  not  only  give  the  people  independ- 
ence, but  make  them  free  indeed. 

Very  truly  yours, 

O.  (3.  Howard. 

FROM  HON.  E.  R.  HOAR,  LATE  ATTORNEY-GENERAL  IT.  S. 

Boston,  December  12,  1870. 
My  Dear  Sir  :    My  professional  engagements  will   not   permit  me 
to  undertake  to  be  present   at   the  meeting  in  favor  of  Italian   Unity 


i.ki  1 1  ecs.  29 

proposed   to  beheld  in  New  Xork;  but    the   purpose  of  the   meeting 
commands  my  entire  sympathy  and  respect. 

You  will  find  a  great  many  gentlemen  who  will  saj  whatever  ought 
to  be  said,  much  better  than  1  could  do;  and  the  cause  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious Liberty  ran  never  want  adequate  American  sponsors. 

I  should  be  very  glad   to  attend  your   meeting,  but  in   that,  as  in 
other  things,  prefer  to  serve  as  a  private  ratlin-  than  a^  an  officer. 
Wry  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

K.  R.  Hoar. 


FROM  HON.  JOHN  W.  GEARY.  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  OF 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

BXECl  TIN  I.  CH  Wli'.ER,  ) 

Habrisbi  RGH,  Pa.,  December  31,  1S?0.  )" 

Deab  Sib:  I  am  in  receipt  of  a  circular  relative  to  a  meeting  to  be 
held  in  New  York  on  the  12th  proximo,  "to  celebrate  the  completion 
of  Italian  Unity,"  ifcc.  My  engagements  and  duties  here  will  render  it 
impossible  for  me  to  be  present  on  that  occasion.  The  Committee  of 
arrangements — most  of  the  members  of  which  are  somewhat  acquainted 
with  my  past  history  -need  uot  be  reminded  that  any  effort  to  accom- 
plish the  " establishment  of  civil  and  religious  Liberty,"  not  onl\  in 
[taly,  but  in  any  part  <>f  the  world,  meets  my  sympathies,  and  shall  al- 
ways receive  mj  heartiest  co-operation. 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

Jno.  W.  <  Leaby. 


FROM  HON".  II.  I'.  BALDWIN,  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  OF  MICHIGAN 

EXE<  i  i  i\  B  0 i 

Lansing,  January  ;.  L871.  \ 

Deab  Sib:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  an  invi- 
tation from  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  to  attend  a  meeting  to  be 
held  in  the  City  of  New  York,  on  Thursday  evening,  January  L2th,  to 
celebrate  tin-  completion  of  Ltalian  Unity,  &c. 

The  Legislature   being  now-  in   session,  ami    m\  whole  tim icupied 

with  official  duties,  I  shall  uot  be  able  to  join  you  on  that  occasion. 

I  have  ever  warmly  sympathized  with  the  people  <<\'  [taly  in  their 
persistent  strugglei  to  i  cure  the  independence  and  unity  of  their  country, 
aud  the  establishment  of  civil  and  religious  Liberty  ;  and  I  believe  it. 
eminently  proper  for  the  American  people  to  express  their  satisfaction, 
and  to  extend  to  United  [talj  their  cordial  Bympathj  and  oongratu 
iation  .  "on  the  emancipation   of   Rome,  and   Lts    occupation  as  the 


30  I'MTY    OF    ITALY. 

future  Capital  of  the  nation,  in  accordance  with  the  free  vote  of  Ro- 
man citizens." 

With  thanks  for  your  kind  invitation,  I  am, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

H.  P.  Baldwin. 


FROM    HON.  CHARLES    F.    ADAMS,    LATE    ENVOY    EXTRAORDINARY 
AND  MINISTER  PLENIPOTENTIARY  TO  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

Boston,  Monday,  Dec.  26,  1870. 
Gentlemen  :  I   should   be    very  happy   to   accept    your     nattering 
invitation  to  be  present  and  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  meeting  you 
propose  to  hold  on  the  12th  of  next  month,  were  it  that  I  could  do  so 
with  convenience  to  my  engagements  here. 

Disclaiming  all  pretension  to  be  a  leader  of  public  opinion  in  this 
country,  I  cannot  but  express  the  hope  that  the  struggle  now  going  on 
in  Italy  may  terminate  favorably  to  the  political  unity  of  Italy,  and  at 
the  same  time  leave  to  the  head  of  the  Roman  Church  the  same  amount 
of  spiritual '  authority  to  which  any  Christian  organization  is  entitled, 
which  seeks  to  advance  the  religious  welfare  of  mankind. 
I  am,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  servant, 

Charles  Francis  Adams. 


FROM  RT.  REV.  CHARLES  P.  McILVAINE,  D.D.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  BISHOP 

OF  OHIO. 

Cincinnati,  Wednesday,  Jan.  4,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  have  the  pleasure  of  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your 
invitation  to  the  meeting  to  be  held  in  New  York  on  the  12th,  for  the 
manifestation  of  American  sympathy  with  our  Italian  brethren  in  their 
late  national  events.  The  distance  and  the  winter  must  prevent  my 
attendance.  You  will  not  doubt  that  I  feel  the  warmest  interest  in  the 
object,  and  would  gladly  iinite  with  my  fellow-citizens  in  its  public 
expression.  The  union  of  all  parts  of  that  classic  land  in  one  self- 
governing  nation ;  the  occupation  of  Rome  as  the  capital  city ;  its 
deliverance  from  that  odious  bondage,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  under 
which  it  has  so  long  been  oppressed  ;  the  influence  of  these  and  con- 
temporaneous events  in  securing  to  a  great  people  the  blessings  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  to  be  accompanied,  I  believe,  by  a  system  of  gene- 
ral education ;  these  are  steps  in  the  good  Providence  of  God  which 
make  us  Americans  rejoice,  and  on  the  attainment  of  which  I  desire  to 
join  my  voice  with  that  of  the  expected  meeting  in  congratulating 
United  Italy. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Chas.  P.  McIlvaine. 


i. i:i  i!  bs.  ::i 

FROM  WW  BEV.  A.  CLBVELAKD  COXB,  D.D.,  BISHOP  OF  WESTERN 

NEW  V(»i;k. 

Bi  ffalo,  Tuesday,  I  >oc.  -7.  1870. 

Sir:  A  more  important  effort  than  thai  you  are  now  making  to  Lri\.' 
expressi  m  to  American  sentimenl  on  the  subject  of  Italian  CTnitj  and 
fre  sdom,  has  not,  for  a  long  time,  demanded  the  attention  of  our  peo- 
ple.    Thai  American  sentimenl  and  sympathy  musl   ever  be  with  any 

I pie  claiming  the  righi   to  choose  their  own  i*ulers  and  t"  resisl  the 

imposition  of  a  detested  sovereign  by  foreign  bayonets,  nobody  can  pre- 
tend to  doubt.  Yet,  at  this  moment,  an  organized  attempl  to  produce 
the  very  opposite  impression  in  Europe,  is  zealously  promoted  in  all 
our  chief  cities,  with  a  view  bo  intimidate  Italian  patriots  and  to 
encourage  those  who  would  revive  the  despotic  system  of  1815,  and 
give  it  a  new  lease  of  its  miserable  existence. 

It  is  must  timely,  therefore,  and  all-importanl  t a  national  charac- 
ter, that  an  overwhelming  expression  of  public  opinion  should  be 
elicited  in  behalf  of  the  noble  spirit  of  Italian  liberty  and  unit  v.  AY  it  li- 
mit touching  upon  the  religious  aspects  <»t"  the  question,  vital  and  inte- 

ting  as  they  are,  it  is  a  legitimate  use  of  American  freedom  thus  to 
cheer  the  efforts  of  others  to  secure  fur  themselves  that  freedom  in  mat- 

-  of  conscience,  as  well  as  in  matters  of  social  life,  which   Americans 
yard  as  sacred   beyond  all  other  Lights  of,  man.     Thai  the  unhappy 

iple  of  the  Roman  States  should  be  any  longer  deprived  of  such 
rights,  and  be  delivered  over,  bound  hand  and  foot,  to  the  mosl 
remorseless  despotism  thai  bas  disfigured  Europe  in  this  century,  is 
something  which  no  true  American  can  contemplate  with  indifference. 
1  trust,  therefore,  thai  your  contemplated  meeting  will  only  begin  a 
movement  in  behalf  of  Italy,  which  will  secure  from  all  parts  of  the 
Republic  a  glorious  expression  of  sympathy  and  encouragement. 

Your.-,  t  I'uly, 

A.  <  'u:\  i:i  nn  Cox  E. 


I  BOM   i:T    HI. v.  r.  It.  U  i  \  II  \<.  i .  ,\.  D.D.,  BISHOP  OF  CENTRAL  \i.\\ 

FORK. 

S\  i;  \.  i  3E3  January  .    1871. 

Deab  Sin  :   Your  roui  ii  >\  in  inviting  me  to  attend  the  public  i ting 

in  N<-\\  York  in  behalf  of  Italian  Unity,  and  to  take  pari  in  its  pro- 
ceedings, is  hereby  respectfully  and  gratefully  acknowledged.  It  iscer- 
tainly  natural  for  the  citizens  of  a  Republic  to  offer  their  sympathy  to 
a  nation  advancing  towards  political  independence,  ami  towards  a 
recognition  of  the  greal  doctrine  that,  while  civil  government  is  divinely 
ordained,  the  proper  organ  of  it  administration  i  •  m  titutional,  ex- 
pressing  ill''  mind  ami  will  of  an  intelligent  people.     It  i-  ermalh  nal 


32  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

ural  that  Christians  should  rejoice  in  the  interests  of  religion  itself, 
when  the  secular  power  takes  away  from  the  Bishop  of  Rome  what  the 
secular  power  gave  him,  and  what  he  ought  never  to  have  accepted, — 
a  temporal  sovereignty,  with  all  its  terrible  temptations  to  abuse  and 
corruption.  The  change  is  probably  attended  with  some  evils  ;  but  it 
is  crood  nevertheless, — good  for  Rome,  for  Italy,  for  Europe,  for  man- 
kind and  for  the  open  vindication  of  a  righteous  Providence  in  history. 
Thai  it  lias  come  about  at  last  with  so  little  violence,  is  more  than  the 
world  had  a  right  to  expect.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

F.  D.  Huntington. 


FROM  RT.  REV.  J.  WILLIAMS,  D.D.,  BISHOP  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

Middletown,  Conn.,  Jan.  10,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir:  The  state  of  my  health,  which  keeps  me  a  prisoner 
at  home,  forbids  me  from  entertaining  any  hope  of  being  present  at  the 
proposed  meeting  in  New  York,  "  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian 
Unity." 

With  the  objects  and  purposes  of  that  meeting  I  feel,  and  am  happy 
to  express,  an  entire  and  cordial  sympathy. 

In  whatever  aspect  they  are  regarded,  it  seems  to  me  that  late  events 
in  Italy  are,  or  should  be,  sources  of  great  thankfulness  to  God's  over- 
ruling Providence,  and  of  sincere  congratulation  to  those  more  immedi- 
ately affected  by  them.  Nor  can  one  fail  to  find,  I  think,  in  the  singu- 
lar moderation  and  carefulness  which  have  been  exhibited  under  circum- 
stances that  might  well  have  excused  far  different  modes  of  action,  a 
hopeful  augury  for  the  future  of  United  Italy. 

Surely  no  one  who  believes  that  civil  and  religious  liberty  are  bless- 
ings which  the  great  Father  intended  mankind  to  enjoy,  can  withhold 
his  word  of  congratulation,  however  humble  they  may  be,  from  such  a 
message  as  it  is  proposed  to  send  from  the  United  States  to  Italy. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  sincerely  yours, 

J.  Williams. 


FROM  RT.  REV.  WM,  BACON   STEVENS,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  BISHOP   OF 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Philadelphia,  January  23,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  My  whole  heart  rejoices  at  the  Unification  of  Italy,  with 
its  Capital  at  Rome.  Not  only  because  it  restores  Rome  to  its  great 
historic  position,  and  gives  to  Italy  its  historic  head;  but  chiefly,  be- 
cause  it  vindicates  and  establishes  the  great  doctrine  of  free  thought  in 
politics,  and  free  conscience  in  religion,  and  the  breaking  up  of  an 
ecclesiastical  temporal  power  which,  for  a  thousand  years,  has  been  hos- 
tile to  both.     I  remain  very  truly  yours, 

Wm.  Bacon  Stevens. 


l.l  l  I  EES. 

FRcM    PROFESSOR  SAMUEL  P.  B.  MORSE,  LL.D. 

N  i  w   Fork,  January    1  I.  L871. 

Dear  Sir:  Iji  compliance  with  your  request,  I  send  you  a  copj  of 
a  few  remarks  prepared  for  the  meeting  on  the  L2th  instant,  summoned 
to  celebrate  the  union  ,,t'  Rome  with  Italy. 

Having  for  at  least  fortj  years  past  fell  a  deep  and  peculiar  interesl 
in  the  political  regeneration  of  Italy,  i  cannot  refrainfrom  a  few  words 
on  the  subjecl  of  the  proposed  meeting. 

What  lias  occasioned  this  call  of  citizens,  holding  ever}  shade  of 
political  opinion  on  the  local  interests  of  the  country,  summoned 
for  the  expression  of  a  common  sympathy?  Is  the  call  unprovoked ? 
Has  it  been  incite,!  from  the  other  side  of  the  water?  And  what  is  its 
object?  Is  n  to  meet  to  do  violence  to  the  purely  religious  consci- 
entious conviction  of  a  particular  denomination  of  Christians  in  our 
midst  ?  In  other  words,  are  we  aboul  to  protest  againsl  the  legitimate 
doings  of  any  ecclesiastical  body  in  the  exercise  of  their  appropriate 
functions?  Surely  not;  we  arraign  no  man's  religious  convictions. 
What  then  has  provoked  this  call ?  It  is  a  matter  of  notoriety  tint  a 
very  general  concerted  movemenl  has  recently  Keen  made  through- 
oul  the  land  by  the  ecclesiastical  directors  of  the  Roman  Catholic  de- 
nomination of  Christians  in  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of 
representing  (may  I  not  say  rather  misrepresenting)  to  the  world  the 
sympathies  of  the  American  people  with  the  late  civil  changes  in  Italy. 
When  the  question  before  them  is  whether  freedom  or  despotism  shall 
triumph,  il  needs  no  labored  proof  in  support  of  the  affirmation  that 
Americans  instinctively  sympathize  with   freedom. 

What  then  is  the  case  here  ?  It  is  \r\y  simple.  The  Roman  people, 
in  common  with  other  portions  of  Italy,  have  for  ages  been  under  the 
civil  rule  of  a  sovereign  whose  throne  is  in  Home.  In  his  capacity  as 
civil  ruler,  like  all  other  sovereigns,  he  is  amenable  to  the  fortunes 
and  hazards  of  change.      It  is  no  aovelty  thai   dynasties  and  individual 

have  for  various  reasons  given   place  toothers.     The  causi 
and  modes  of  change    have    been    various;    sometimes  brought    aboul 
peaceably,  sometimes  by  revolutions  more  or  less  violent.    There  is  noth- 
ing in  tie-  case  of  the  late  civil   ruler  of  Rome,  thai  calls  for  special 

apathy  in  hi-  favor  fr Americans  ;  for  whatever  differences  there 

niaj  be  between  parties  in  relation   to  certain  governmental   mea  ures, 
there  is  no  controversj  on  the  cardinal  principle  of  their  common  ao\ 
ernment,  thai  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  and  modify,  or  abolish, 
their  form  of  government.     All  are  in  accord   on   this  point.     ps  it, 

then,  in  harmony  with  the  univer  al  sentiment  of  the  A rican  people, 

for  a  particular  class  or  denomination  of  Chri  tep  i f  theii 

legitimate  and  appropriate    phere  to  take  to  task  a  foreign  nation  and 


34  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

a  foreign  sovereign,  for  exercising  that  natural  right  so  strongly  set  in 
the  very  foundation  of  our  governmental  system  ? 

Is  it  not  preposterous  to  suppose,  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
American  people  have  all  at  once  abandoned  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  their  own  cherished  government,  and  that  they  can  have  any 
sympathy  with  those  who  denounce  a  people  and  their  chosen  sovereign, 
for  acting  in  conformity  with  the  principles  of  free  government  ?  The 
voice  of  these  ecclesiastics,  who  have  assumed  to  speak  for  the  American 
people,  is  not  the  voice  of  America.  If  this  question  were  submitted 
to  the  test  of  a  plebiscitum,  can  any  one  doubt  that  the  result  would 
be  as  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  Italian  acts,  as  that  of  the  result 
of  the  plebiscitum  in  Rome  V 

I  beg,  therefore,  to  offer  for  the  consideration  of  the  meeting,  if  not 
too  late  to  be  acted  upon,  the  following  Preamble  and  Resolutions  : — 

Whereas,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  laying  the  foundations 
of  their  government,  embodied  in  their  earliest  declaration  of  political 
principles  the  great  principle,  that  it  is  the  right  of  the  "  people  to 
alter  or  abolish  a  government  which  they  believe  to  be  destructive  of 
their  rights,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  the  foundations 
on  such  principles  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them 
shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness ;  "  and 

Whereas,  the  perpetual  separation  of  Church  and  State  is  fundamen- 
tal in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and 

Whereas,  in  perfect  conformity  with  these  fundamental  American 
principles,  the  Italian  people,  by  an  immense  majority  of  their  suffrages, 
have  deliberately  altered  and  abolished  ,a  secular  government  in  their 
territory,  which  they  believe  to  be  destructive  of  their  rights,  and  have 
instituted  a  new  government,  laying  the  foundations  on  such  principles 
and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them  has  seemed  most 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness ;  and  that  they  have  also  de- 
termined to  have  a  "  Free  Church  in  a  Free  State  ;  "  therefore, 

Resolved,  That,  as  American  citizens,  we  should  be  recreant  to  the 
principles  of  our  own  government,  if  we  did  not  cordially  applaud  the 
action  of  the  Italian  people  in  their  laudable  efforts  to  attain  their  long 
desired  National  Unity,  founded  on  principles  which  our  experience  as 
a  nation,  for  nearly  a  century,  has  demonstrated  to  be  sound  and  emi- 
nently conducive  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  a  people. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  your  friend,  and  the  friend  of  Italian  Unity, 

S.  F.  B.  Morse. 


FEOM  WILLLAjVI  LLOYD  GARRISON,  ESQ. 

Boston,  Jan.  10,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  Regretting  that  I  cannot  give  my  personal  attendance, 
and  be  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  meeting  which  is  to  be  held  at  the 


LETT]  RS. 

Academy  of  Music  O]  Thursday  evening  next,  to  celebrate  the  comple- 
tion of  Italian  Unity  and  the  emancipation  of  Rome,  I  can  only  send 
you,  and  all  who  shall  come  together,  I  trusl  an  overwhelming  audi- 
ence,— my  hearty  approval  of  the  objed  of  the  gathering,  and  in\  warm 
mgratulationa  on  the  long  stride,  which  the  people  of  ItaK  have 
taken  towards  the  assertion  of  <i\il  and  religious  freedom.  Their 
unification  on  this  basis  is  an  evenl  to  be  hailed  by  all  who  profess  to 

worship  ai   the  shrh f  liberty;  and   by  none  more  enthusiastically 

than  by  the  American  people,  whose  words  of  cheer  should  go  forth 
in  clarion  tones,  giving  additional  strength  and  inspiration  to  tin- 
grand  up-lifting  mo\  ement. 

At  last.  -  -through  \\  hat  usurpation  and  audacious  oppression  !  Italy 
is  on,..  Long  ago,  her  profoundest  of  thinkers  and  noblesl  of  advo- 
cates, Mazzini,  declared:  ,l  Her  geographical  conditions,  language,  and 

literature,    the    liee.-ssities   of    defence    ail.l    of    political    pOWer,     the     desire 

of  the  populations,  the  democratic  instincts  innate  in  our  people,  the 
presentiment  of  a  progress  in  which  all  the  forces  and  faculties  of  the 
country  must  concur,  the  consciousness  of  an  initiation  in  Europe, and 
of  greal  things  yet  to  be  achieved  by  ItaK  for  the  world,  all  poinl  to 
this  aim."  And  of  its  bearings  upon  religion  he  well  s ; , j , j  :  ••  |,  ;s  ,,,,, 
a  question  of  destroying  religion,  but  of  restoring  it  to  its  primitive 
purity  and  mission  :  of  giving  il  new  power  in  the  love  and  veneration 
of  th,.se  by  whom  it  is  now  despised  and  assailed;  and  of  constituting 
i»  the  ruler  and  the  sanction  of  social  progress  and  human  happiness 
•  •  •  •  W  hen  the  times  are  ripe  for  change  no  human  power  can  im- 
pede it  :  and  if  the  priesthood  refuse  to  inaugurate  that  change,  human 
it\  will  turn  from  them  to  address  itself  to  God,  and  constitute  itsell 
priest,  pope,  and  sacrifice  to  I  lim." 

The  overthrow  of  the  despotic  power  of  the    I 'ope.  In  regard  to  civil 

liberty   and    the   rights  of   conscience,    removes    the  si    formidable 

barrier  which  has  ever  been  erected  againsl  free  thought,  free  speech, 
\'v^  inquiry,  and  popular  institutions.  The  evil  wrought  l>\  thai 
power,  in  the  State  ;,nd  the  Church,  through  all  the  ramifications  of 

ciety,  and  in   the  mental,  moral,  and   physical  condition  of  the  accu 
ruulated  millions  subject  toils  swaj    through   long-suffering  centuries, 
has  heel,  vasj  a,,, |  immeasurable     the  overshadowing  curse  of  Christen 
dom.     It  is  for  heaven  and  earth   to  rejoice  over  its  downfall.     Now, 
where  all  has  been  darkness,  lei  there  !„■  light;   where  conscience  ha 
been  perverted  or  paralyzed   bj  the  sorcerj  of  papal  domination,  let  it 
'"  quickened  and  have  unlimited   scope;   where    reason    liae    been   de 

throned,  let  it  be  inaugurated  witl >re  than   kinglj  bonoi    ;  I   lei 

thepeopleof  Italy  resolve  never  more  to  wear  the  fetten  of  civil  or 
religiou     bondage.     Wherever  am  mortal  assumes  to  be  the  God-or 


- 

ss. 


36  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

i la  hied  ruler  of  the  world,  it  is  time  for  the  world  to  rise  in  rebellion, 
.Mid  proclaim  the  assumption  a  lie.  May  the  future  of  Italy  be  as 
prosperous  and  resplendent  as  its  past  has  been  degraded  and  miser- 
able! 

Yours,  not  only  for  Italian  Unity,  but  for  the  Unity  of  all  peoples  in 
one  sublime  brotherhood  of  liberty,  equality,  fraternity. 

Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison. 


FROM  HON.  GERRIT  SMITH. 

Peterboro,  N.  Y.j  Jan.  1,  1871. 
My  Dear  Sir:     Because   of  old  age  and   impaired  health,  I  cannot 
accept  the   imitation  to  attend  the  meeting  of   12th  inst.     My  heart, 
nevertheless,  will  be  in  that  meeting. 

United  Italy  ! — long  divided,  but  at  last  united ! — we  welcome  you  into 
the  family  of  nations  !  You  can  now  protect  the  equal  rights  of  all 
the  religions  within  your  borders.  The  Catholic  should  not  ask  for  more  ; 
and  the  Protestant  should  not  take  up  with  less. 

Very  respectfully  your  friend,  Gerrit  Smith. 


FROM  PRESIDENT  CHARLES  A.  AIKEN,  UNION  COLLEGE. 

Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  12,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Your  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  meeting 
to  be  held  this  evening  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  have  extended  to  me 
the  courtesy  of  an  invitation  to  participate  both  by  my  presence,  and 
1 1 y  a  written  expression  of  my  sympathy  with  its  obj  ect. 

I  greatly  regret  that  I  cannot  be  with  you.  While  I  cannot  imagine 
that  it  is  of  any  practical  importance  whether  I  write  or  am  silent,  1 
would  not  even  seem  to  be  out  of  sympathy  with  your  grand  purpose, 
or  indifferent  to  the  great  political  and  religious  movement  that  calls 
forth  your  demonstration. 

It  is  not  a  dreamy  sentimentalism  that  in  its  languid  way  rejoices,  and 
should  rejoice  to-day  over  the  Unity  of  Italy.  Philanthropy  rejoices; 
our  sense  of  justice  and  love  of  liberty  rejoice  ;  piety  rejoices.  They 
rejoice  with  anxieties  and  tremblings  ;  but  the  very  expression  of  their 
joy  will  at  least  tend  to  remove  the  causes  of  their  solicitude.  Great 
problems  have  only  entered  upon  their  solution,  but  a  happy  issue  is 
the  more  confidently  to  be  anticipated  if  a  clear,  ringing  salutation  ami 
( rod-speed  may  go  across  the  Atlantic  to  cheer  and  strengthen  those,  on 
whom  that  great  issue  providentially  depends. 

We  would  be  kinder  to  the  ecclesiastics  of  Italy  than  they  wot  or 
will.  And  our  consciences  and  hearts  are  clear  and  satisfied  in  pressing 
this  kindness  upon  them. 


LETTERS, 

I  am  sure  that  your  meeting  cannot  be  a  failure.     And  it"  this  ex- 
pression  of  sympathy  is  of  anj  account  with  reference  to  your  perma- 
nent record  of  proceedings,  be  assured  that  my  whole  heart  is  in  it. 
Very  respectfully  yours,  Charles  A.  Aim  n 

FROM  A.  JACKSON,  D.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  TRINITY  COLLEGE 

II  UlTFORD,    1  ><•'•.   23,   1870. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  regret  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  be  present  to 
participate  in  the  expression  of  sympathy  for  United  Italy,  which  will 
be  given  with  a  hearty  good-will  at  the  meeting  called  for  L2th  of  Janu- 
ary next. 

It  is  very  important  that  such  a  meeting  should  be  held,  and  that 
such  expression  of  the  real  sentiments  of  the  American  people  should 
be  given  and  published  ah  mail .  For  certain  showy  demonstrations  of 
sympathy  with  the  Pope,  gotten  up  for  the  most  part  by  citizens  of  for- 
eign birth,  have  greatly  misled  the  press  and  the  people  of  Europe.  But 
the  fact  should  be  known,  that  the  American  people  do  nol  wish  to  see 
the  patriarch  of  the  Etonian  Church  re-established  in  the  possession  of 
temporal  power.  The  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  the  I  Inited  Slates 
bold  just  the  opposite  view  to  that  of  those,  who  have  been  lately 
agitating  this  question.  They  feel  that  the  welfare  of  the  Italian  pi 
pie  and  the  interests  of  a  Christian  civilization  imperatively  demand 
a  United  Italy,  with  Rome  as  the  centre  of  the  nation's  life,  and  the 
civil  government.     Very  respectfully  yours, 

A  .  .1  \'  KS<  'V 


FROM   SAMUEL  EARRIS,   D.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  BOWDOIN  COLLEGE 

Brunswice,  M  mm:.  Jan.  7.  L871. 
Dear  Sib  :  I  have  received  the  invitation  of  your  '  !ommittee  to  attend 
the  meeting  next  Thursday  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity. 
I  regr<  i  that  mj  engagements  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  be  present. 
Permit  me  to  say  that  I  approve  of  the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  re- 
joice in  the  establishment  ofa  Constitutional  Government  in  Italy,  the 
progri  of  r<  ligiouE  liberty  there,  and  the  occupation  of  Home  as  the 
future  capital  of  t  he  na1  ion. 

Wit  li  much  respect,  sincei'ely  yours, 

Samuel  Harkis. 


FROM   HOWARD   CROSBY,    D.D.,   CHANCELLOB    OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  THE  «  i  i  5    OF  NEW    5TORK. 

\  i  u   "*  ore,  Jan.  5,  I  s7  I . 

Dear  Sir:    I  hope  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  on  Thursday  evening, 

railed  to  expre     to  United  [talj  the  sympathy  of  the  American  peoplo. 


38  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

The  Roman  question  is  not  a  religious  but  a  political  one.  It  is  not 
strange  that  good  men,  who  consider  the  Pope  the  head  of  their  church, 
should  feel  grieved  at  his  loss  of  any  honors,  dignities,  or  emoluments. 
I  respect  their  religious  feelings,  and  if  this  were  a  religious  question  I 
would  avoid  trespassing  on  the  sacredness  of  their  sentiments.  But  if 
a  religion,  or  its  upholders,  make  the  political  government  of  a  nation  a 
pari  of  the  religious  creed,  the  question  becomes  a  political  one,  and  re- 
ligious views  in  this  particular  are  no  more  sacred.  I  have  a  right  to 
my  personal  religious  belief  and  worship,  and  to  communion  with  those 
of  like  faith,  so  long  as  I  do  not  injure  the  rights  of  others  ;  but  if  I,  in 
the  name  of  my  religion,  insist  on  enslaving  some  of  my  weaker  fellow- 
men,  the  public  has  a  right  to  step  in  and  interfere  with  my  religion 
very  decidedly.  The  Roman  question  has  just  these  elements.  In  the 
name  of  religion,  a  large  and  intelligent  population  have  been  held  in 
political  servitude.  A  so-called  paternal  government  has  exercised  a 
tyranny  perfectly  Oriental  in  its  character.  An  inquisitorial  system 
of  espionage  has  net- worked  the  community.  In  the  city  of  Rome  no 
Protestant  could  hold  divine  worship,  except  in  the  house  of  a  foreign 
ambassador.  All  this  has  been  done,  while  the  people  groaned  against 
it,  by  the  aid  of  foreign  bayonets  loaned  by  another  tyrant.  This  is  no 
religious  question  at  all.  It  is  purely  a  political  question,  and  America 
knows  hew  to  solve  it.  She  points  to  1776  as  her  example,  and  lifts 
her  voice  and  cries,  "  In  the  name  of  God  and  righteousness,  let  the  ty- 
rants be  cast  down  and  the  people  be  free  !  " 

Against  this  fundamental  principle  of  political  liberty,  it  is  vain  to 
urge  arguments  of  antiquity  and  prescription.  Time  cannot  make  the 
false  true.  Pepin  and  Charlemagne,  and  ten  centuries,  cannot  destroy 
a  principle.  Whether  Pope  paid  Emperor,  or  Emperor  paid  Pope, 
makes  not  a  shadow  of  difference,  any  more  than  the  comparative  rights 
of  two  brigands  over  a  bag  of  gold  modify  the  question  of  their  rascali- 
ty. The  bag  of  gold  belongs  to  neither.  The  people  of  Central  Italy, 
including  Rome,  have  a  right  to  their  own  choice  of  government,  and 
they  have  chosen  that  of  United  Italy.  Any  holding  down  of  a  people 
to  a  government  they  hate  is  tyranny,  and  a  people  have  a  right  to 
overturn  it,  peaceably,  if  they  can,  and  forcibly,  if  they  must.  The 
right  is  not  magnified,  but  only  the  importance  of  exercising  it,  when 
to  this  tyranny  is  added  cruelty,  barbarism,  or  injustice  in  the  admin- 
istration. To  keep  quiet  under  such  a  government  is  to  become  part- 
ner of  its  crimes.     Revolution  is  a  Christian  duty  to  our  fellow-meu. 

The  Roman  government  was  not  only  sustained  by  a  foreign  army, 
insulting  the  people  by  its  presence,  but  was  financially  supplied  from 
foreign  countries.  People  in  America  and  Asia,  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  needs  of  Roman  local  politics,  contributed  their  gold  and  silver,  not 


LETTERS. 


to  help  the  head  of  their  church  as  such  (tiiaL  would  have  heeu  per- 
fectly legitimate),  but  to  enable  a  monarch  to  lord  it  over  a  people 
against  their  will. 

I  do  Dot  care  whether  such  a  government  be  Catholic,  Protestant, 
.1  »ish,  Mohammedan,  or  Pagan.  In  any  case  it  should  be  destroyed, 
fori  sake  and  humanity's.     The  religion  has  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

It  is  the  abominable  tyranny  which  musl  be  abated  as  a  nuisance. 

America's  view  of  the  matter  is  verj  clear,  [taly's  occupation  of 
Rome  is  no  conquest,  nor  is  it  an  invasion  of  religious  rights.  It  is  a 
nation  or  people  taking  its  own,  and  an  abolition  of  false  political 
claims  that  were  made  and  strengthened  in  the  usurped  name  of  religion. 

Weare  nol  to  allow  our  fellow-citizens  to  deceive  themselves  or  us  by 
mixing  the  political  and  religious  questions  together,  and  thus  to  pub- 
lish as  America's  verdict,wha1  would  disgrace  her  own  birth-principles. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

Howard  <  Irosby. 


FROM  S.  G.  BROWN,  D.D..  PRESIDENT  OF  HAMILTON  COLLEGE. 

Clinton,  <  >neida  Co.,  N.  5T.,  Jan.  11,  1871. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  especially  sorry  that  engagements  which  cannot  be 
avoided  or  postponed,  will  prevenl  me  from  attending  your  meeting  to- 
morrow. The  friends  of  Italy  have  long  desired  to  see  the  whole  of 
thai  beautiful  land  united  under  one  liberal  and  efficient  government, 
which  would  give  free  play  to  the  genius  of  the  gifted  Italian  race. 
How  long  have  they  waited  with  mingled  hope  and  fear!  How  long 
have  they  looked  to  see  the  land  of  such  noble  memories,  the  land  of 
Dante  and  Galileo,  of  Michael  Angelo  and  Tasso,  stand  untrammelled 
;md  ered  in  strength  and  hope  !  And  nov,  thai  this  end  has  been  ac- 
complished, and  Italy  is  one  from  the  Alps  to  the  Gulf  of  Taranto,  it 
Burely  is  fitting  thai  we  should  send  to  her  a  word  of  sympathy  and 
encouragement. 

Her  future  is  al  leasl  in  her  own  hands.     No  foreign  troops  rep 
her  energies;  no  foreign  policy  shapes  her  course.     She  will, more  than 
ever,  feel  her  responsibility,  and,  lei   us  hope,  assume  thai  place  of  in 
telligence  and  poweramong  the  nations  of  Europe  and   the  world,  which 
the  traditions  of  her  former  greatness  and  the  character  of  her  people 
{airly  warranl  us  in  expecl  ing. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  ver^  respectfully,  your  obedienl  servant, 

s.  ( :.  Brown. 


40  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

FROM  JAMES  McCOSH,  D.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW 

JERSEY. 

Princeton,  N.  J.,  Jan.  11,  1871. 
Dear  Sir:  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  regret  that,  owing  to  en- 
gagements connected  with  the  opening  of  the  Winter  Term  of  our  Col- 
lege, I  cannot  attend  your  meeting  to-morrow  evening.  I  am  glad 
there  is  a  meeting  called  to  give  expression  to  public  sentiment.  The 
great  hindrance  to  the  advancement  of  Italy  being  now  removed,  I 
anticipate  for  that  country  a  brighter  future  than  she  has  had  in  the 
best  ages  of  the  past. 

Yours  truly,  James  McCosh. 


FROM   PROF.  ALEXIS    CASWELL,  D.D.,   PRESIDENT  OF  BROWN  UNI- 
VERSITY. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  Jan  9,  1871. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  circular  of  the  21st  of  December  was  duly  re- 
ceived. 

I  very  much  regret  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  attend  the 
meeting  of  the  12th,  convened  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian 
Unity. 

( 'lassie  Italy  is  the  land  to  which  every  scholar  turns  with  the  warm- 
est interest.  The  Roman  Forum  kindles  the  imagination  of  every  one 
who  beholds  it,  and  vividly  recalls  the  memory  of  the  old  Roman  gran- 
deur. That  grandeur  now  lives  only  in  history  and  crumbling  monu- 
ments. But  Italy  remains.  Her  Dante  and  Galileo  make  her  immor- 
tal. The  days  of  her  thraldom,  we  trust,  are  passing  away.  The  long- 
continued  stagnation  of  her  national  life  is  drawing  to  a  close. 

With  a  representative  government  and  uniform  laws,  administered  in 
the  interest  of  the  people,  with  free  schools,  and  a  free  church,  and  an 
open  Bible — the  sure  precursors  of  intelligence,  and  virtue,  and  indus- 
try— Italy  must  become  a  great  nation.  And  these,  we  hope,  she  will 
now  have.  Rome  as  the  capital  of  United  Italy,  with  the  heritage  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty  permeating  and  invigorating  the  national 
life,  may  yet  more  than  rival  her  ancient  splendor.  Well  may  the 
American  people  proffer  to  the  nation  their  sympathy  and  their  con- 
gratulations. 

The  interest  of  the  traveller  in  Italy  has  hitherto  centred  chiefly  in 
antiquities  and  art,  in  the  Capitol  and  the  Vatican,  and  St.  Peter's.  It 
will  now  be  directed,  perhaps  in  a  paramount  degree,  to  the  progress 
of  education,  of  morality,  of  religion,  and  the  industrial  arts,  among 
the  masses  of  a  great  people.  Every  lover  of  freedom  and  the  happi- 
ness of  his  race  must  rejoice  in  the  prospect. 

I  am  yours  very  truly,  Alexis  Caswell. 


Ill  I  I  RS.  |  1 

FROM    ASA    D.    smith.    D.D.,    I.I.  D..    PRESIDENT    OF    DARTMOl   III 

COLLEGE 

II  \N"\  i  B3    N.   II.,  Jan.    In.   187  I. 

I'  \i:  Sir:  1  received  in  due  time  ihe  cote  of  your  Committee 
inviting  me  to  attend  tin-  proposed  meeting  "  to  celebrate  the  comple- 
tion of  Italian  unity,  and  t.»  express  to  United  Italy  tin-  sympathy  and 
congratulations  of  the  A.merican  people."  Circumstances  have  so  de- 
layed my  reply,  thai  I  have  barely  time  to  say  how  greatlj  I  rejoice 
that  such  a  meeting  i-  to  be  held,  and  how  much  I  regrel  thai  mj 
official  engagements  will  nut  allow  me  to  be  present.     Jt  ishigh  time 

for  Buch  a  movement,      h  would  be  sad.  indeed,  if  the  i pie  of  Italy 

should  hear  from  our  shores  only  such  voices,  as  have  been  strangeh 
lifted  up  in  certain  recenl  gatherings.  We  should  be  singularly  un- 
grateful for  thai  civil  and  religious  freedom  which  we  have  enjoyed  as 
a  nation,  for  nearly  a  century,  it'  we  failed  to  sympathize  \\  ith  whatever 
peoples  of  the  old  World  are  wisely  and  earnestly  seeking  to  secure 
tor  themselves  the  same  greal  blessing.  Nay,  we  should  be  false  to  the 
principles  that  underlie  all  our  political  institutions.  And  there  are 
many  reasons  connected  with  the  greal  past  of  [tabj  with  its  relations 
t..  art.  to  literature,  to  jurisprudence,  to  religion,  to  civilization  in  the 
broadesl  sena — why  we  should  be  especially  interested  in  it.  presenl 
condition  and  prospect  3. 

I  will  add.  that  were  I  a  Roman  Catholic,  desirous  of  the  ereatesl 
spiritual  advancemenl  of  the  church  of  my  faith. — intenl  upon  effacing 
from  it-  restments  every  lingering  Btain,  and  making  it  to  the  utmosl 
a  blessing  to  the  world,  nothing  would  be  more  grateful  to  me,  I  can 
not  help  thinking,  than  the  entire  separation  of  <  ihurch  and  State.  No 
music  from  tin-  Eternal  <  'ity  would  !»•  sweeter  to  tne  than  to  hear  from 
the  lip-  of  the  Holy  Father,  in  the  verj  sense  in  which  our  Lord  mi.  i 
ed  it,  "My  kingdom  ia  not  of  this  <>;„■/,/;'  I  shall  be  disappointed  if 
there  are  not  good  Catholics  ai  your  meeting  who  will  he  at  heart,  if 
!.'•!  openly,  in  full  accord  with  ilii-  sentiment. 

Fours  very  truly.  \.x    |  >.  Smith. 


FROM    WhKl.U     I.     WHITE    l.i.  h  .   PRESIDENT    OF    I  ORNELL    I  M 

\  ERSITY. 

I  i  n  v  \.   N.  5f.,  January  7.  187  I. 

Sib:    Ii   is  with   no  .-mall  pleasure  thai  I  receive  your  invitation  to 
the  meeting,  which  is  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity. 

Hardlj  anj  evenl   in  this  wonderful  centurj  has  - louraged  all 

believers  in  human  pro-,,    .  as  the  building  up  l>\    hrewd   statesman 
ship  and   brave  generalship  of  the   [talian   nation;  and   no  event    has 
more  strongly  thrilled  the  hearl    of  thoughtful  lovers  of  liberty  through 


42  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

out  the  world,  than  the  occupation  of  the  grand  old  historical  capital — 
the  necessary  centre  of  the  new  power. 

To  celebrate  such  a  consummation  especially  befits  our  people. 

Fresh  from  our  own  great  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  national 
unity,  our  hearts  beat  with  theirs  who  now  see  the  heroic  suffeiings  and 
labors  of  their  ancestors,  during  so  many  centuries,  rewarded  at  last  by 
!he  achievement  of  the  same  blessing. 

The  lesson  of  the  Italian  nation  has,  indeed,  been  long  and  hard  in 
the  learning.  The  futility  of  trust  in  Ca?sarism  had  to  be  learned  from 
the  treaties  of  Campo  Formio  and  Villa-Franca,  and  the  battle  of  Men- 
tana  ;  the  necessity  of  long  and  patient  thought  had  to  be  learned  from 
the  life-work  of  such  as  Sismondi  and  Botta  and  Alfieri ;  the  value  of 
practical  statesmanship  had  to  be  learned  from  the  laboring  and  wait- 
ing of  such  as  Cavour;  the  worth  of  patriotic  fervor  had  to  be  learned 
by  the  martyrdom  of  a  long  line  of  the  noblest  sons,  whose  devotion  has 
ever  blessed  any  country. 

Much,  too,  we  may  hope,  has  been  unlearned.  Gone  for  ever,  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  are  the  sacrifice  of  civil  to  political  liberty  ;  the  use  of 
unconstitutional  means  to  accomplish  apparently  patriotic  ends ;  the 
yielding  to  policy  bom  of  impatience  or  anger  ;  the  sacrifice  of  national 
interests  to  local  prejudices;  and  it  must  be,  that  both  these  great  series 
of  lessons  shall  result  in  implanting  ideas  of  constitutional  liberty  and 
unity  in  the  Italian  heart  for  ever. 

The  event  you  celebrate  is  the  culmination  of  a  grand  old  history ; 
but  may  it  not  be  the  beginning  of  a  grander  new  history  ?  Increased 
liberty  and  a  just  national  pride  shall  quicken  life  in  new  broods  of 
Italian  statesmen,  philosophers,  poets,  and  historians.  Far  richer  even 
than  her  old  heritage  of  municipal  liberties,  shall  be  her  new  dower  of 
civil,  political,  and  religious  freedom. 

I  remain,  sir,  very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

Andrew  D.  White. 


FROM    WM.    H.     CAMPBELL,    D.D.,    LL.D.,  PRESIDENT   OF    RUTGERS 

COLLEGE. 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  January  G,  1871. 

Sir  :  I  thank  you'  for  the  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  of 
January  12  th,  and  accept  it  with  pleasure;  for  of  all  the  events  of  an 
eventful  year,  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity  and  the  occupation  of 
Rome  as  the  capital  of  a  free  people  is  the  greatest.  Good  men  every- 
where are  rejoicing  at  it,  and  with  them  I  rejoice — 

1.  Because  Italy  is  relieved  from  the  curse  of  ecclesiastical  des- 
potism. 


1.)  ill  KS. 


4:3 


2.   Because  the  Church  of  Rome  is  freed  from  the  practical  blasphemy 

of  charging  Christ  with  falseh 1  and  folly  in  saying  "  M]  Iringdomis 

not  of  this  world."  Very  respectfully  yours, 

\Y\1.     II.    l'\M!'l:l  1 .1  . 


FROM     DANIEL     R     GOODWIN,     D.D.,     LATE     PRESIDENT     OF     THE 
UNIVERSITY.   OF   PENNS1  1.VAN1A. 

Philadelphia,  January  3,  lv<  •• 

Dear  Sir:  Your  invitation  has  been  received  to  he  present  at  the 
meeting,  which  will  assemble  in  New  Xork,  on  Thursdaj  evening  the 
12th  inst.,  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity,and  to  expr< 
,,,  CTnited  Italy  the  sympathy  and  congratulations  of  Onited  Anieriea. 
mit  me  to  express  my  hearty  gratification  thai  such  a  demonstration 
of  the  American  people  is  to  be  made,  and  my  extreme  regret  thai  it 
will  not  be  in  my  power  personally  to  participate  in  the  proceedings  of 

the  occasion. 

To  the  friends  of  truth,  freedom,  and  progress,  to  the  lovers  of  God 
and  man.  such  an  occasion  has  not  been  given  for  many  centuries.  All 
that  is  best  among  us.  all  that  is  best  within  as,  rises  up  to  congratu- 
late redeemed  and  united  [taly,  disenthralled  and  re-instated  Rome  ; 
the  scholar,  the  patriot,and  the  philanthropist  ;  the  Christian  and  the 
man:  the  spirit  of  the  age,  the  Bpirit  of  human  progress,  the  genius  of 
civilization,  and  the  glowing  heart  of  our  holy  religion— all  embrace 
one  another  in  mutual  felicitations,  all  bless  God  with  swelling  bosoms 
and  with  one  accord,  for  Italian  Onity  and  Roman  freedom 

[taly,  Rome,  how  these  names,  bo  long  associated  almost  exclusively 
with  the  grand  memories  of  the  distant  past,  no*  bring  together  what 

grandest  in  those  ancient  memories,  and  what  is  most  gloriousin  the 
hopes  of  the  opening  and  expanding  future!  It  is  a  joy,  not  at  the 
,„,.,,.  creation  or  birth  of  that  which  is  fraught  with  a  magnificent  pro- 
mise, but  at  the  resurrection  of  long-cherished  and  long-buried  ho] 
hopesaround  which  the  affections  of  Christian  civilization  have  been 
clinging  and  clustering  with  the  growth  of  centuries. 

,  the  whole  track  of  the  Darl     \  ipanned  at  once.     No*   a 

new  day  dawns  after  the   Long   night.     No*    with  more  than    poetic 
enthusiasm  we  si n^r : — 

■■  Magnus  ab  into  loruno  oa  oil ni  ordo." 

With  this  opening  year,  the  "magni  menses"  of  the  old  bard  ol 
Mantua  reallj  begin  for  Italy ;  and  the  fervid,  patriotic  dream  of  his 
._,,,„,    Florentine  disciple  has  at   length   its  fulfilment    for  the  " Italia 


44  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

bella— e  morta  "  which  he  loved  so  well.  That  Italy  of  whom  the  great 
Chibeline  poet  exclaimed  : — 

"  Ahi  serva  Italia,  di  dolore  ostello, 
Nave  senza  nocchiero  in  gran  tempesta, 
Non  donna  di  provincie,  ma  bordello." 

Now  has  her  pilot  at  the  helm,  now  sits  a  queen  of  provinces,  a  chaste 
mistress  of  her  own  united  family.  That  Eome,  wlio  was  heard  com- 
plaining as  a  widow  — 

' '  Che  piagne 
Vedova," — 

now  receives  and  crowns  her  fully  chosen  king — the  king  of  liberated 
and  united  Italy. 

Against  the  political  action  which  has  transferred  Rome  from  the 
civil  government  of  the  Pope  and  his  cardinals  to  that  of  a  constitu- 
tional King,  and  makes  it  the  capital  of  Italy,  great  efforts  have  been 
made  in  various  countries  and  quarters,  particularly  in  England  and 
Ireland,  and  here  in  the  United  States,  to  manufacture  and  forestall 
public  opinion,  and  by  the  frequent  repetition  of  strong  and  violent 
assertions,  to  ci'eate  the  impression  that,  somehow  or  other,  some  mon- 
strous encroachment,  some  sacrilegious  wrong  has  been  perpetrated. 

Even  men  among  us,  who  profess  to  be  the  sworn  and  ardent  friends 
of  free  institutions,  inveigh  against  the  validity  of  the  popular  vote 
by  which  the  Romans  almost  unanimously  expressed  their  preference  for 
the  Italian  over  the  Papal  government ;  urging  the  pretended  and  utterly 
unfounded  objection,  that  the  vote  was  not  free,  but  was  given  under 
intimidation  and  military  surveillance.  But  let  such  men  fairly  and 
honestly  say  whether  they  are  ready  to  acknowledge  such  a  decision  in 
this  case  to  have  been  sufficient  and  valid,  provided  it  had  been  the 
expression  of  the  real  and  unconstrained  will  of  the  Roman  people. 
If,  in  the  face  of  American  freedom  and  of  American  history,  they  say 
No,  then  what  becomes  of  their  professed  attachment  to  the  principles 
of  civil  liberty  and  their  presumed  recognition  of  the  right — the  inhe- 
rent popular  right  of  self-government?  If  they  say  Yps,  then  let  them 
observe  that  all  their  other  objections — and  they  commonly  indulge  in 
many  others — are  an  inconsistency  and  an  impertinence ;  for  they  all 
confessedly  vanish  away  when  this  disappears ;  and  let  them,  with  us, 
be  thankful  that  time  will  soon  demonstrate  what  is  the  real  wish  of  the 
Roman  people. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  make  capital  against  the  Italian  govern- 
ment among  Americans,  by  drawing  an  analogy  between  the  Papal 
States  in  their  relation  to  the  "  Catholic  world  "  and  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia in  its  relation  to  the  United  States — which  last,  it  must  be  con- 


1.1  I  II  BS.  1"> 

.is  in  some  respects  an  anomaly  in   our  republican  institutions. 
But  this  analogy  is  no  more  than  specious,  and  scarcely  that. 

The  "  Catholic  world,"  as  such,  has  not,  like  the  United  States,  any 
rivil  organization,  any  constitution  of  central  government,  anj  Bover- 

gn  bead, — it  is  not  a  body  politic.  The  Pope,  who,  with  bis  cardinals, 
has  governed  Rome,  lias  not  been  the  supreme  <i\  il  ruler  of  the  "  <  latho- 
lic  world  ;"  whatever  may  have  been  his  claims  for  himself,  the  "Catho- 
lic world"  lias  not  acknowledged  him  as  such.  The"Catholic  world" 
cannot,  therefore,  be  related  in  point  of  civil  governmental  rights  to  the 
Etonian  States,  as  the  United  States  are  related  to  the  District  of 
Columbia.     The  cases  have  nothing  to  the  purpose  in  common. 

The  right  of  a  | pie  to  self-government,  the  right  to  alter  or  abolish  their 

form  of  government  at  pleasure,  implies  an  already  existing  people  with 
known  and  definite  territorial  bounds.  It'  the  right  be  pushed  further, 
an<l  applied  to  new  organizations  of  bodies  of  men  and  portions  of  ter- 
ritory indefinitely  small,  it  can  be  practically  established  for  them  only 
by  secession  or  separation  from  some  previously  existing  body  politic, 
by  a  successful  revolution,  and  by  an  appeal  to  arms.  Now  tin'  Etonian 
bave  long  been  recognized  as  a  separate  independent  country, 
having  it>  sovereign  and  independent  ruler  in  the  pope-king.  Such  a 
people  has  a  right,  above  and  beyond  the  interference  and  dictation  of 
any  other  people — of  the  "Catholic  world,"  or  of  any  other  world — 
peaceably  to  determine  for  itself  its  own  form  of  government  :  it'  such 
a  right  exists  anywhere  at  all.     Not  so  with  the  l>i-trict   of  Columbia. 

id  and  was  never  recognized  as  a  separate  independi 
country;  was  never  anything  more  than  a   municipality,  legally  trans- 
ferred from  the  government  of  :1  State  to  that   of  tin-   United  States,  a 

municipality  of  about  halt'  tl xtent,  and  scarcely  a   fifth   part   of  the 

population  of  the  Citj  of  Philadelphia.  Still,  if  even  the  District  of 
Columbia  were,  for  sufficient  reasons,  to  declare  it-  independence,  and 
to  establish  it  by  force  of  arms,  it  would  bave  a  perfect  right  to  deter 
mine  tor  itself  it>  own  political  connections  and  form  of  government. 
Till  then  it-  territory,  a-  t<.  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  i>  vested  in 
tit.-  government    of  th''    United  States,  and  its  people  arc  under  the 

ipreine  legislation  of  that  government  as  to  their  political  affairs. 

But   the  Christian   world,  or  the  "  Catholic  world,"  however  Btrong 
in  the  Slate  and  affairs  of  Etome,  neither  has   nor  has  ever 

had   an  d    political   ownership  id'  Etome,  or  an\    right    of   dominion 

or  dictation  over  its  government  or  its  1 pic.     No  former  dyn 

i- >i.  ,  or  kings     whether  Constantino,  Charlemagne,  or  any  other — 

had  a  right  '  •  'ii  | of  the  people  of  Etome  in  perpetuity  :  no  wi 

no  treatii   .  no  protocols,  no  prescription  could   thu     di  | f  th<  ax. 

Their  right    of    elf-governmenl    remains   indefeasible;    and   whenever 


IG  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

tliey  see  fit  to  exercise  it,  they  do  no  man  wrong,  they  encroach  upon 
no  man's  rights.  Besides,  while  the  transfer  to  the  United  States 
government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  was  an  undoubted  authentic 
act,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten — as  it  cannot  be  denied — that  the  "  dona- 
tion of  Constantine,"  and  the  "  decretals,"  on  which  the  political  claims 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs  ultimately  rest,  are  known  to  be  baseless  and 
shameless  forgeries.  But,  without  relying  at  all  on  this  damaging  and 
damning  fact,  the  simple  truth  is,  there  is  no  constitutional  political 
relation  whatever  between  the  so-called  '"'  Catholic  world  "  as  a  body 
and  the  Roman  States,  and  therefore  their  relation,  whatever  it  be, 
in  idea  or  in  fact,  stands  in  no  analogy  at  all  to  that  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  to  the  United  States. 

The  foul  and  venomous  language,  the  vituperative  epithets,  and  the 
vindictive  curses  which  the  Pope  sees  fit  to  hurl  against  those  whom  he 
charges  with  a  sacrilegious  spoliation  of  the  most  divine  and  sacred 
rights — so  far  as  they  refer  to  his  being  stripped  of  his  long-detested 
and  detestable  power  as  a  temporal  sovereign — simply  recoil  on  his  own 
head  ;  whether  they  mean  or  accomplish  anything  else  or  not,  they,  at 
least  and  in  any  case,  betray  in  him  who  vents  them  an  imperious  and 
a  rancorous  temper,  which  ill  becomes  the  man  who  claims  to  be  the 
infallible  head  of  Christendom  and  the  vicar  of  that  loving  and  lowly 
One,  who  declared  that  he  came  not  to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save 
them ;  who  charged  his  disciples  to  render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's,  and  who  prayed  for  his  murderers,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do."  "  His  Holiness "  may  yet  learn  the 
truth  of  the  old  Saxon  proverb,  "  Curses,  like  chickens,  will  come  home 
to  roost." 

If  stripping  the  Roman  Pontiff  of  his  dominion  over  Rome  is  a  foul 
deed  of  wrong  and  political  brigandage,  so  was  stripping  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey  of  his  dominion  over  Greece.  This  is  a  purely  political  question, 
for  it  regards  simply  political  relations  toid  political  rights ;  and  there 
is  no  element  of  wrong  in  divesting  the  Pope-king  of  the  civil  govern- 
ment of  Rome  which  there  would  not  be  in  divesting  the  Grand  Seijr- 
nior  of  the  government  of  Constantinople  and  the  Eastern  Empire,  or 
Queen  Victoria  of  the  government  of  Ireland,  which  they  and  their  pre- 
decessors have  severally  held  for  so  many  centuries. 

All  the  rights  of  property  which  have  vested  in  the  Pope  as  a  citi- 
zen or  a  bishop,  and  not  as  a  civil  sovereign  and  king,  all  personal 
and  private  rights  in  general,  and  all  proper  ecclesiastical  rights,  whether 
of  i  he  Pope,  of  his  cardinals,  or  of  any  other,  will  undoubtedly  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  people  of  Rome  and  the  Italian  government  from  po- 
litical rights  and  rights  of  civil  sovereignty  ;  and  as  such  they  will  be 
sacredly  respected.  But  it  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  no  superstitious 


LF/1  in:-.  -±< 

fears  of  papal  curses  and  interdicts,  and  no  petty  present  interests  no 
motives,  whether  of  the  prestige,  or  of  the  pride,  or  of  the  pecuniary  ad- 
vantage of  retaining  the  ecclesiastical  head  of  the  "Catholic  world" 
within  the  bounds  of  Italy,  and  in  his  ancienl  seal  on  one  of  the  hills 
of  the  Eternal  City— will  lead,  in  treatingwith  the  Pope,  to  unwise  and 
inconsistent  concessions  for  the  moment  :  which  will  surely  be  the  source 
of  perennial  vexation  and  dispute  hereafter.  Now  is  the  precious  oppor- 
tunity for  placing  the  whole  relation  of  the  Pope  to  the  civil  govern- 
ment at  one-  on  it-  proper  and  permanent  basis.  To  recognize  in  him 
a  quasi  political  sovereignty,  a  right  of  communicating  with  the  Italian 
government  bv  his  ambassadors— whether  called  nuncios  or  legates — 
ambassadors,  too,  taking  precedence  of  those  of  any  other  sovereign; 
to  guarante  i  his  personal  inviolability,  and  to  give  him  exclusive  juris- 
diction within  limits  however  narrow;  in  short,  to  acknowledge  in  him 
anything  more  than  a  subject  of  the  civil  government  side  by  side  with 
other  citizens — is  to  commit  a  gross  inconsistency  at  the  start,  and  to 
takes  course  which  musl  afterwards  necessitates  long  repentance  ora 
painful  reform.  In  his  spiritual  authority,  in  theexeicise  of  his  purelj 
istical  functions  in  any  church  or  churches  that  see  tit  to  ac- 
knowledge them,  the  Pope  should  be  perfectlj  independent  of  the  civil 
power,  and  should  not  be  interfered  with  in  the  slightest  degree ;— un- 
less, in  their  pretended  exercise,he  purposely  places  himself  in  seditious 
antagonism  to  the  civil  government  in  which  case  he  should  be  ame- 
nable, like  all  other  citizens,  to  impartial  laws.  It  is  questionable, 
whether  he  would  be  allowed  to  live  in  any  other  <  Ihristian  or  <  latholic 
country  than  hah  on  any  better  terms  than  these.  At  all  events,  it  is 
tain  that,  in  this  free  countrj  of  ours,  he  could  have  no  greater  ex 
emption,  no  higher  sovereignty,  no  other  personal  inviolability.  Ami 
if,  in  any  <  Ibristian  country  where  the  Pope  should  reside,  whether  in 
[tah  or  elsewhere,  Buch  legal  treatment  of  him  would  be  inconsistent 
with  the  principles  of  fundamental  right  or  of  the  Christian  religion, 
then  is  the  verj  theory  of  our  free  and  equal  institutions,  with  the  en- 
tire separation  of  <  hurch  and   Btate  which  obtains  ai ig  us,  inconsis 

tent  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  right  and  of  the  <  Ihristian  religion. 
\\  I  right    in    America  cannot    be  wrong   in    Ltaly.      ind  what  is 

Wrong  in    Italy  cannot    be  ii'_dit  in  America. 

Meanti we  are  read)  to  profess  and  proclaim  in  the  lace  ol   the 

World,  and   tO   maintain   "  au'ainsl    all   comer.,"   not    onh    that    It    LB  contra 

iv  to  the  firsl  principles  of  our  American  freedom,  but  that  it  is  reall) 
contrarj  to  the  first  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  itself,  that  tem- 
poral dominion   should  inhere  in  the  spiritual  office,  ae   such,  ol  anj 
Ohri  nan  minister,  whether  he  be  the  bo  called    Prince  of  thi    Ipo 
or  the  mei        B    hop  01   Presbyter,  whether  he  be  the    ell    tyled  Vicai 


48  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

of  Christ  or  the  lowliest  Deacon.  Whoever  may  be  its  officers,  or  what- 
ever they  may  presume  to  call  themselves,  Christ's  Kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world. 

That  the  temporal  power  over  precisely  the  Roman  States,  or  over 
any  other  State  or  States,  is  necessarily  or  essentially  inherent  in  the 
Papal  jurisdiction  over  the  Church,  has  either  been  infallibly  declared 
an  article  of  the  Catholic  faith,  or  it  has  not.  In  the  latter  case  it  may 
be  rejected  by  good  Catholics  just  as  safely  and  as  loyally  as  it  can  be 
affirmed.  In  the  former  case,  we  have  the  comfort  of  knowing  that  this 
mysterious  and  slippery  dogma  of  infallibility  is  likely  now  to  be  prac- 
tically tested  by  time  and  facts.  Let  Italy  and  the  Roman  people — and 
the  Roman  Church,  too,  if  there  be  such  a  thing — only  be  left  by  tin- 
rest  of  Europe  to  settle  their  own  affairs  for  themselves,  and  it  requires 
no  gift  of  infallibility  to  predict  the  result.  As  the  sentiment  of  Dante 
in  condemnation  of  the  union  of  the  temporal  with  the  spiritual  power 
at  Rome  has  been  fully  justified  by  the  facts  of  history,  so  will  his 
prophecy  of  her  liberation  from  the  adulterous  union  be  fulfilled  : — 

' '  Di  oggiuiai  che  la  chiesa  di  Roma, 


' '  Per  conf  ondere  in  se  duo  reggimenti, 
"  Cade  11  el  fango  e  se  brutta  e  la  soma.'' 

"  Ma  Vaticano'e  l'altre  parti  elette 
' '  Di  Roma,  che  son  state  cimitero 
' '  Alia  milizia  che  Pietro  seguette, 

"  Tosto  libere  fien  dall'  adultero." 

Daniel  R.  Goodwin. 


FROM    HON.    WM.    BROSS,    LATE    LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR    OF    THE 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Chicago,  Jan.  9,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  cannot  be  present  with  you 
on  Thursday  evening,  January  12th,  "  to  celebrate  the  completion  of 
Italian  Unity,"  and  with  you  personally  "  to  express  to  United  Italy, 
the  sympathy  and  congratulations  "  which  it  seems  to  me  every  lover 
of  freedom,  wherever  his  home  may  be,  must  feel  at  the  emancipation 
of  Rome  from  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  Her  people  have  voted  to 
change  their  rulers,  and  he  knows  little  of  their  present  condition  and 
past  history  who  does  not  hope  for  the  most  beneficent  results,  both 
to  them  and  to  their  children.  Their  right  to  do  this  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned by  men  who  love  liberty,  and  equally  clear  is  their  right  to  make 
another  change  when  duty  shall  require  them  to  do  it.  Hence,  not 
only  Americans,  but  mankind,  should  rejoice  that  Italy,  for  the  first 
time  in  centuries,  is  United  and  Free.     Let    them  give  thanks  de- 


1.1   ill  RS.  t9 

voutly  ti>  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe  for  the  hope,  thai  she  will  remain 
thus  united  and  free   n 'i:i:\  BR. 

Surely  the  world  lias  had  enough  of  ecclesiastical  despotism.  Thai 
the  Church  and  the  State  should  be  entirely  distincl  and  separate  organ- 
izations is  attested  by  more  than  a  thousand  years  ft'  wars,  the  mosl 
desolating  and  cruel  that  history  lias  recorded.  Italy  has  therefore  deter- 
mined to  lei  every  man  worship  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own 
conscience,  and  thai  the  Stat.-  shall  proteci  and  defend  him  in  the  free 
pcise  of  thai  right.  Eere  the  duty  of  Italy  and  of  all  govern- 
ments begins  and  ends,  and  surely  American  freemen  should  congratu- 
late Italy  thai  this  fundamental  principle  of  our  modern  civilization  is 
now  recognized  from  the  Alps  to  the  Gulf  of  Taranto.  With  the 
blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  secured  to  all  her  people,  we  be- 
lieve thai  the  melancholy  monuments  of  Roman  genius  and  Roman 
power  in  the  past  will  soon  become  instinci  with  the  life  and  the  en- 
ergy ofour  modern  Christian  civilization.  If  the  ancient  mistress  of 
the  world  cannot  revel  in  her  former  greatness,  lei  us  hope  she  may 
soon  become  one  of  the  brightesi  stars  in  the  galaxy  of  <  Ihristian  States. 
V.w  thai  "  Freedom  to  worship  God"  is  accorded  to  all  men  in  the 
"  Eternal  City,"  lei  Americans  give  all  the  countenance  and  suppori 
they  can  properrj  command  to  make  thai  righi  perpetual.  The  history, 
the  language,  the  literature,  the  arts,  and  the  laws  of  Home,  in  the  days 
of  her  glory,  have  for  ages  been  the  common  property  of  the  civilized 
world.  .Ma\  the  righi  to  visii  and  to  studj  her  classic  monuments,  bo 
worship  within  her  walls,  and,  it'  nee.  I  be,  to  have  their  final  resting-place 
within  her  bosom,  be  for  ever  seemed  to  men  of  everj  faith,  and  from 
every  clime.  I  close  with  the  ardent  prayer,  thai  in  all  thai  can 
elevate  and  bless  mankind,  [taly,  in  the  not  distant  future,  maj  far 
excel  the  glory  thai  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  ages  of  her  highest 
culture  and  her  greatest  power. 

With  besi  wishes  that  your  meeting  ma}    proves  brillianl    sue. 
I  am.  v  ery  t  rulj ,  3  our  obedieni  sen  ant, 

W'm.   Brobs. 


I  ftOM   1:1. \.  M<  >j:«  -a  n    DIX,   DM  .  RECTOB  OF  'I  L'lMTV  (in  Et<  II 

\i  u   Fork,  Jan.  2,  1871. 

.M  '■  Deab  Sih:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  your  note,  in 
which  you  ask  permission  to  add  mv  name  in  those  alread)  Bigned 
to  tli"  call  for  a  public  meeting  to  celebrate  the  achievement  of  the 
I  nit_\  of  [taly.  You  \sere  not  mi  taki  11  iii  uppo  Lng  thai  mj  ympa 
thii  with  the  [talian  nation  at  this  critical  epoch  :  and  n  gives 
me  great  plea  ure  to  ( iplj  with  your  requt    t,  uoi  on!}  becau  ■    I  1 


50  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

a  dee])  and  affectionate  interest  in  the  Italian  people,  but  also  because 
I  deem  it  important  that  the  views  of  Americans  should  at  this  time 
be  emphatically  expressed.  Other  voices  have  been  recently  heard 
among  us,  protesting  Avith  bitterness  and  anger  against  the  intelligent 
and  unanimous  acts  of  the  Italians;  and,  lest  those  voices  should  be 
supposed  to  represent  our  national  sentiments,  it  seems  our  duty,  by 
way  of  offset  and  corrective,  to  send  a  hearty  congratulation  across 
the  sea. 

A  residence  of  some  two  years  in  Italy  has  made  that  lovely  and  his- 
toric land  very  dear  to  me.  What  time  I  passed  in  Rome  was  sufficient 
to  enable  me  to  form  a  deliberate  judgment  respecting  its  condition  and 
prospects  under  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
rashly  or  ignorantly,  but  with  the  calmness  and  sobriety  of  mature  con- 
viction, that  I  express  my  joy  at  beholding  the  end  of  that  disastrous 
and  unnatural  rule,  and  the  termination  of  that  great  abuse  and  anom- 
aly, the  worldly  empire  of  a  Christian  Bishop.  It  is  well  for  our  com- 
mon Christianity  that  the  venerable  patriarch  of  Rome  finds  himself 
again,  after  a  thousand  years  of  error,  in  his  true  place,  as  ruler  of  "  a 
kingdom  not  of  this  world."  There  may  he  ever  remain,  protected  and 
honored  in  his  spiritual  rights,  yet  no  more  than  any  other  citizen  be- 
fore the  impartial  face  of  the  law.  As  for  the  nation,  now  united  and 
masters  of  their  ancient  capital,  I  trust  that  the  glory  of  their  latter 
days  may  be  greater  than  that  of  any  of  the  former.  I  was  trained  in 
the  American  principles,  that  Church  and  State  ought  not  to  be  united  ; 
that  each  should  be  free  in  its  own  sphere  ;  that  every  citizen  should 
have  liberty  to  worship  our  heavenly  Father  in  peace,  according  to  his 
own  conscience  ;  and  that  in  religious  matters  all  men  should  claim  for 
themselves,  and  concede  to  others,  the  fullest  toleration,  so  long  as  no 
detriment  be  done  to  public  morals  and  safety.  Every  year  deepens  my 
faith  in  these  principles  as  just  and  true  ;  and  these  appear  to  lie  at  the 
basis  of  the  edifice  of  Italian  Unity,  and  to  be  expressed  in  the  recent 
political  movements  in  the  peninsula.  Therefore  I  join  hands  cor- 
dially with  you,  and  with  all  who  speak  words  of  good  cheer  to  a 
brave  and  patient  people,  and  bid  them  a  hearty  God-speed,  as  they  en- 
ter on  a  higher  career  and  a  happier  and  better  estate. 

I  remain,  with  great  respect  and  regard,  very  truly  yours, 

MORGAN    DlX. 


FROM  REV.  HENRY  C.  POTTER,  D.D.,  RECTOR  OF  GRACE  CHURCH. 

New  York,  Jan.  16,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  beg  to  acknowledge  your  kind  note,  and  am  very  glad 
of  the  opportunity  which  it  gives  me  to  offer  you  my  congratulations  in 


MM  ER8.  .".1 

view  of  the  recenl   expression,  in  this  city,  of  American  sympathy  with 

dom  in   Italy. 

It  was  a  uoble  tribute  to  a  glorious  achievement,  Italy  has  proved 
herself  worthy  of  her  history*  and  true  to  her  grandest  traditions.  Her 
people  have  unmistakably  declared  themselves  equally  unwilling  to 
deny  their  nationality,  to  betray  their  country,  t"  repudiate  civilization, 

to  reuounce  science  :  and  in  freeing  themselves  from  the  yoke  of  the 
Latin  Church,  have  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  cause  of  \'\<r  In- 
stitutions, and  of  pure  and  undefiled  Religion  everywhere. 

To  those  who  wail  hopefully  for  the  triumph  of  libera]  ideas,  the  his- 
tory of  Italy.  iluiiiiLC  the  lasl  thirty  years,  has  been  full  of  interest. 
Three  philosophies,  all  more  or  less  liberal,  have  sprung  up  in  Italy 
during  thai  time, —  all  of  them,  curiously  enough,  the  result  of  the  med- 
itations of  thri  lesiastics-  Gioberti,  Rosmini,  and  Ventura.  .Ma\ 
we  no  I  hope  that,  under  freer  conditions  of  thought  and  action  among 
the  people  of  Italy,  they  may  find  manj  followers  among  their  brothei 
clergy,  and  that  we  may  ere  long  see,  as  one  result  of  Italian  Unity,  the 
growth,  in  Italy,  of  a  libera]  Catholicism,  side  b)  side  with  a  free  gov- 
ernment. Will;  cordial  respect,  faithfully  yours, 

II  i:m:s  < '.  Potter. 


FROM     REV     STEPHEN    II.    TVM..   DM..   RECTOR    OF    ST.    GEORGES 

•  III   RCE 

N  i:\\   5Tork,  Jan.   17.   1871. 
\\\   Drab  Sir  :    I   am   unable  to  go  into  any  elaborate  views  of  the 
it    Bubject,   which    tin-    dawning   of    Italian    Unity    ami     Freedom 
reveals.      N<>  man   who   really  believes  in   the   value  of  constitutional 
liberty,    secured    to    the    equal    enjoyment    of  mankind;-    in    the  ini 
portance  of  freedom  of  thought,  of  utterance,  ami  of  personal  action  to 
individual  man,  .guarded  and  sustained  by  just  and  equal  laws;— -in  the 
preciousness  oi  a  religion,  and   personal   right  of  conscience   to  the  hu- 
man soul,  unfettered  by  tin1  oppressions  ami  arbitrary  powers  of  law 
in  authority  over  the  community  :-  in  the  blessedness  of  a  divine 
revelation  to  man.  the  promises  and  instructions  of  which  an1  addressed 
personally  to  himself,  and  to  be  interpreted   for  bim  bj   bim  elf  alone  : 
in  the  refining  and  exalting  influence  over  tin   persons  and  social  rela- 
tions of  oien,   under  the  protection  of  a  just   and  equal  government, 
"I'  quiet,  intelligent,  ami  peaceful  homes  :     ami  in  the  certainty  of  the 

real  growth  of   public  and   private  virtue,  in  a  countn    'dered  and 

irrayed, — may  Burelj    ay,  with  great  confidence  and  cheerfulnei   ,  that 
■/""'    m  tie   pre  '-tit  prospect  of  Italian  Unity  and  Freedom. 
1    trusl  we  ma\     ee  all   tie-  brilliant    hope     thu     springing   together 


52  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

into  birth  for  that  beautiful,  but  long-oppressed  land  and  people,  com- 
pletely and  triumphantly  realized  under  that  constitutional  monarchy, 
and  established  legal  government,  which  appears  to  have  been  at  last 
raised  up,  under  the  gracious  Providence  of  God,  as  the  prepared  hope 
and  blessing  for  Italy.  That  a  Free  Church  in  a  Free  State  will  tend 
to  promote  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  the  reverence  for  divine 
power,  as  revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  God,  among  the  people 
enjoying  these  precious  blessings,  I  cannot  doubt.  And  m}7  heart's  de- 
sire to  the  Lord  of  all  is,  therefore,  for  his  care  and  blessing  over 
restored  and  United  Italy. 

I  am,  with  much  regard,  yours,  <tc, 

Stephen  H.  Tyng. 


FROM     REV.    E.    A.    WASHBURN,    D.D.,  RECTOR    OF    THE     CALVARY 

CHURCH. 

New  York,  January  10,  1871. 

Sir  :  My  absence  has  delayed  my  answer  to  your  kind  notice  of  the 
meeting  on  behalf  of  Italian  Unity.  Allow  me  to  send  a  word  of  hearty 
sympathy,  not  only  as  a  Protestant  clergyman,  but  one  who  has  watched 
for  years  the  growth  of  ideas  in  Italy,  and  has  had  full  faith  in  its  re- 
generation. 

It  is  the  chief  feature  of  this  triumph  that  just  after,  the  Papal 
Council,  and  amidst  the  strife  of  nations,  it  has  been  wrought  at  once, 
and  with  hardly  a  blow.  There  can  be  no  stronger  proof  of  what  all 
the  martyrs  and  scholars  of  that  unhappy  land  have  so  long  repeated, 
that  her  discords  have  come,  not  from  her  own  incapacity,  but  from  the 
anomaly  of  a  Papal  State,  calling  itself  spiritual,  yet  upheld  only  by 
foreign  bayonets.  Italy  was  one,  at  the  moment  the  French  legions 
were  withdrawn. 

But  signal  as  this  event  is  for  that  country,  it  is  yet  more  so  for  the 
general  cause  of  Christian  freedom  abroad.  This  one  act  destroys  for- 
ever the  feudal  falsehood  of  a  hierarchy  having  its  centre  at  Pome.  It 
may  be  long  before  the  next  step,  the  death  of  the  spiritual  despotism, 
will  follow.  But  both  are  bound  together,  as  the  astute  chiefs  of  the 
Roman  curia  have  always  seen.  I  hail  the  entry  of  the  Italian  people 
into  its  own  capital  as  the  beginning  of  a  movement  which,  under  God, 
the  Ruler  of  history,  will  end  in  a  pure  and  free  Christianity  in  Europe. 
Your  obedient  servant,  E.  A.  Washburn. 


FROM  REV.  JOHN  COTTON  SMITH,  D.D.,  RECTOR  OF  THE  ASCENSION 

CHURCH 

New  York,  Januarv  10,  1871. 
Dear  Sir:  I  have  received  your  note  inviting  me  to  attend  a  meet- 


i. l.i  n:i:-. 

ing  to  beheld  for  the  celebration  of  Italian  Unity,  and  to  express  to 
United  Italy  the  sympathy  and  congratulations  of  the  American  peo- 
ple. 1  most  h<  artily  approve  of  the  objects  of  the  meeting, and,  Pro  i- 
dence  permitting,  shall  be  present. 

a  a  significant  fact  that  tin-  emancipation  of  Rome,  and  i t >.  occu- 
pation as  tin-  future  capital  of  Italy,  are  the  wort  of  Catholics.  It  is 
not.  therefore,  a  question  between  Protestantism  and  i  latholicism.  Tin' 
issue  presented  is  between  the  free  and  progressive  and  the  ultramon- 
tane schools  within  the  Church  of  Rome,      li  was  Dante  who  said  : 

••  La  chiesa  «li  Roma, 
Per  conf ondere  in  b£  duo  reggimenti, 
Cade  ii*  1  I'.-.  brutta  e  la  soma." 

And  during  tin-  six  weary  centuries  thai  passed  away  from  I 'ante  to 
Cavour,  the  overthrow  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy  and  the 
1  city  <>t'  Italy  have  hen  the  aspiration  of  poets,  historians,  artists,  and 
statesmen  among  the  noblest  suns  of  the  Roman  Church. 

ideas  which  have  triumphed  in  this  bloodless  revolution  are  pe- 
culiarly American  ideas.      Ultramontanisra  can  never  be  a  permanent 
power  in  this  country.     Nothing  could  1»'  more  short-sighted,  therefore, 
than  the  policy  which  Leads  to  open  avowal  of,  or  silent  acquiescence  in 
ultramontane  principles.     The  Catholicism  which  is  in  sympathy  with 
the  Unity  of  Italy,  whatever  may  be  present  appearances,  i-  to  !»•  tin 
mi  of  the  t'm ore  in  America. 
Trusting  that   the  demonstration  proposed   may  be  a  truly   national 
one,  embracing  all  the  Lovers  of  freedom,  irrespective  of  religious  !»■ 
I  am,  very  Bincerely  \'"i  John  Cottox  Smith. 


FROM    BEV.    WILLIAM     F.    HOBGAN,    D.D.,  BECTOB   "I'   ST.  THOMAS 

•Hi  ROBL 

Ni:\\   Y"i;u.  .1: arj    Mill,  L871. 

Gentlemen  op  the  Com.:  I  I ><  lt  to  assure  you  of  mj  hearty  sym- 
pathy with  tin-  objects  of  tin'  meeting  to  !»'  held  at  the  Academj  of 
Music,  on  the  I2th  inst.  I  cannot  say  thai  mj  engagement  will  allow 
me  to  he  present,  but,  whether  present  or  absent,  I  rejoice  unfeignedly 
the  liberation  of  Rome  from  Papal  and  bierarchical  rule,  ami  at  tin' 
toration  of  ltal\  to  a  condition  of  units  which,  under  tin'  wi  ■ 
ordi  ring  of  God,    hall   I"-  a,  the  dawn   to  the  golden  daj  of  advan 

meut    and   |  ■  i  o    peri  'real    things   nia\    lio\\    he  spoken   of    Italy,  awe 

•    le  i    fui iin-,     greal  i o  pirat quickened   into 

lit'..  oid   the  forth-putting  of  great    influence  and   power. 

I  I    I  grant  that  this  may  not   onlj  be  the   hour  of  hi  r  deliverance,  but 
of  her  <i\il  and  r<  elevation  in  the    ighi  of  all  the  world. 


54  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Believe  me   in  full    accord  with    this    proposed    demonstration,  and 
most  sincerely  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

William  F.  Morgan. 


FROM  REV.    B.    SUNDERLAND,    D.D.,  LATE  CHAPLAIN  OF   THE  U.   S. 

SENATE. 

Washington,  January  9th,  1871. 

Sir:  The  invitation  to  be  present  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  inst., 
at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  your  city,  "  to  celebrate  the  completion  of 
Italian  Unity,  &c."  is  received. 

Men  and  nations  are,  in  some  sense,  the  instruments  of  Providence, 
without  approval  of  their  imperfections.  Two  ideas  have  struggled 
together  in  the  world, — the  essential  and  the  conventional.  Christianity 
is  essential.  The  Papacy  is  conventional.  This  unscriptural  form  of 
conventionalism,  in  Church  and  State,  has  been  upheld  so  long  by 
physical  force,  that  its  adherents  have  come  to  confound  it  with  Chris- 
tianity, and  to  believe  in  its  ever-during  nature.  But  the  fruits  of  the 
Papacy  show  that  it  has  little  in  common  with  the  religion  of  Jesus, 
while  the  voice  of  inspiration  has  instructed  the  world  that  this  great 
oppression  would  first  be  of  long  continuance,  and  then  suddenly 
expire.  The  events  of  the  closed  and  current  year  tend  to  a  marked 
fulfilment  of  this  prophecy.  All  signs  must  fail,  or  else  infalli- 
bility has  crowned  the  cup  of  Papal  iniquity,  and  the  temporal  power 
of  the  Pontiff  is  gone  forever  ! 

This  result  we  hail  for  Italy  and  the  world,  and  for  so  much  of 
true  freedom  as  it  bestows  we  congratulate  the  Italian  nation.  We  are 
not  in  favor  of  monarchy  per  se.  God  is  our  only  monarch,  and  Christ 
the  only  King  of  the  world.  Civil  government  indeed  there  must  be. 
The  people  have  the  right,  subject  to  God,  to  choose  their  forms.  These 
forms  will  usually  represent  the  individual  and  aggregate  character  of 
the  nation. 

Herein  is  a  deep  philosophy,  which  Christ  only  has  developed.  Hence 
He  made  charity  the  corner-stone,  and  truth,  uprightness,  and  peace 
the  elements  of  His  kingdom. 

For  more  than  twelve  hundred  years,  the  Popes  of  Borne,  while 
loudly  professing,  have  been  practically  falsifying  these  great  principles. 
They  were  usurpers  from  the  beginning,  and  it  is  time  they  should 
cease  from  usurpation.  Small  and  great  have  feared  them,  and  now 
do,  believing  them  clothed  on  earth  with  divine  authority.  But  as  the 
nature  of  their  power  comes  to  be  better  understood,  it  is  seen  to  be, 
after  the  fashion  of  Satan,  an  evil  power,  to  be  dreaded  while  it  lasts, 
since  Heaven  suffers  it,  for  a  season,  to  work  out  its  own  malignity. 

What  has  it  done  for  Italy  ?     It  has  made  "  the  sunny  land  "  a  bai 


11  ill  RS. 


nn  field  and  degraded  the  nation  to  the  weakest  rank  in  the  scale  of 
modem  civilization.  It  has  bred  a  generation  of  bandits  and  beggars, 
which  divides  with   the    Priesthood   the   remaining  substance   of  the 

country  ! 

And  what  In-  it  done  for  the  world  ?     They  tell  us  of  the  transmis- 

i  of  the  Scriptures,  of  the  resistance  of  the  Saracens,  of  the 
adjustment  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  power,  with  the  encouragement 
of  whatsoever  ministers  to  the  welfare  of  nations  and  the  universal 
happiness  of  mankind.  It  is  a  fallacious  plea.  Whatever  was  wrung 
from  Papa]  Rome,  she  yielded  only  to  stern  necessity.  On  the  other 
hand,  her  deeds  of  will  are  manifest.  She  lias  purloined  the  Bible.  She 
has  made  the  centuries  dark  with  ignorance  and  superstition.  She  has 
scattered  the  apples  of  discord  among  all  people.  She  has  filled  the 
earth  with  intrigue,  violence,  and  blood.  She  is  the  common  enemy  of 
the  liberties  of  mankind!  To-day  the  Papacy  shuts  out  Protestant 
churches  from  Rome!  It  dominates,  by  the  almost  ineradicable  preju- 
dice of  its  education,  the  very  hearts  and  minds,  the  hoj.es  and 
feara  of  those  who  would  revolt  againsl  it. 

Will  the  i-ulers  and  people  now  shake  ii  off?  ( 'an  Victor  Emmanuel 
rise  above  the  devil's  curse  of  the  Pope  and  his  Church,  that  has  been 
thundered  at  him?  Will  he  so  fear  for  "his  teeth  and  his  toe-nails  " 
as  to  hesitate  in  the  onward  march  of  the  nation,  with  standards  lifted 
••  hi"h    in  the  van  of  universal  emancipation  ?  " 

It  Lb  to  encourage  the  Italians,  while  we  stamp  with  reprobation  the 
falsity  of  priestlj  protests  againsl  the  spoliation  of  the  Pope,  thai 
your  assembl}  is  convened.  Lei  it.  then,  speak  out.  Let  it  reiterate 
to  the  world  thai  the  Pope  is  no  prisoner — thai  he  is  quite  as  inde 
pendent  as  be  ever  should  be — simply  having  been  shorn  of  some  por- 
tion of  that   power  which  he  has  so  long  abused.       Ami  let  it  be  fully 

understood  that,  while  we   respect   the  adherents  of  the  I! ish  Faith, 

in  the  com moii  beneficence  of  our  Christian  civilization,  we  will  uol  ap- 
prove an\  King,  Power,  or  People,  who,  at  this  late  hour  of  Eistory, 
shall  attempt  to  restore  the  status  in  Europe  ante  bellwm. 

W'iih  man\  solicitudes,  we  still   have   noble  and  cheering  hopes  for 

halv — the  countrj  of  a   dead   greatness     se  the  mother  of  Empire, 

the  temple  of  justice,  and  the  seat  of  laws — even  now  embalmed  in  the 
memory  of  all  her  martial  prowess,  her  classic  genius,  and  her  glorious 
art  ! 

Mi\  her  renaissa  no  be  as  much  more  glad  and  proud,  as  the  Future 
shall  transcend  the  Pa  I  ! 

Regretting  much  that  I  shall  no!  be  permitted  to  share  in  the  greel 
in^'s  of  t he  occa  ion,  I  remain, 

Very  truly,  &c,  B.  Si  nderland. 


56  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

FROM    PROF.    PHILIP    SCHAFF,   D.D.,    UNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMI- 
NARY. 

New  York,  January  3d,  1871. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  circular  of  December  21,  1870,  requesting  my 
opinion  on  the  Italian  question,  for  the  proposed  meeting  in  the  Acade- 
my of  Music,  in  behalf  of  United  Italy,  has  been  duly  received. 

Every  American  citizen,  who  has  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the 
inseparable  connection  of  national  union  and  national  independence, 
and  of  the  inestimable  blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  shown 
in  the  experience  of  his  own  country,  must  hail  the  unification  of  Italy 
on  the  basis  of  a  liberal  constitution  as  one  of  the  most  important  and 
hopeful  events  of  the  age.  The  Italian  people,  so  long  the  foot-ball  of 
petty  dynastic  interests,  have  at  last  asserted  their  inalienable  rights 
of  nationality  and  self-government. 

This  political  regeneration  encourages  the  expectation  of  a  moral  and 
religious  regeneration  of  the  Peninsula,  which  shall  favorably  affect  the 
other  Latin  nations  and  the  whole  Catholic  church.  If  the  claims  of 
the  Pope  be  well  founded,  he  ought  to  rejoice  in  this  relief  from  the 
cares  and  odium  of  a  secular  government,  and  throw  himself,  without 
distrust  or  fear,  upon  the  affections  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  millions 
of  Roman  Catholics  ;  remembering  that  Peter  and  his  successors,  during 
three  centuries  of  persecution,  had  neither  silver  nor  gold,  and  that 
Jesus  Christ  himself,  who  became  poor  for  our  sakes,  expressly  de- 
clared, "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world." 

History  proves  that  the  Church  is  not  the  loser,  but  the  gainer  by  a 
separation  from  the  State.  Christianity  is  abundantly  able  to  sup- 
port and  govern  itself,  and  prospers  best  in  the  atmosphere  of  liberty. 
All  it  ought  to  expect  and  demand  from  the  civil  government  is  pro- 
tection and  freedom  in  the  enjoyment  of  its  rights,  and  the  execution 
of  its  mission  of  peace  and  good-will  towards  all  mankind. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Philip  Schaff. 


FROM    PROF.   HENRY   B.  SMITH,  D.D.,   LL.D.,  UNION   THEOLOGICAL 

SEMINARY. 

New  York,  Jan.  10,  1871. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  :  It  is  fitting  that  the  union  of 
Italy  under  a  constitutional  government,  and  the  occupation  of 
Rome  as  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  should  be  greeted  by  the  Ame- 
rican people  with  sympathy  and  congratulations,  for  it  is  the  eman- 
cipation of  a  noble  nation,  unrivalled  in  its  past  history  ;  for  a  long 
time  svqn-eme  in  government,  law,  faith,  and  general  culture  ;  and 
now  giving  sure  signs  that  the  old  stock  has  not  been  crushed  out. 


LETTERS.  :»7 

For  centuries  this  fair  land  has  needed  union  within,  and  exemption 
from  foreign  dictation  and  thraldom.     In  its  present  advance  towards  a 
higher  civil  and  religious  freedom  every  true  American  must  rejoice. 
Yours  respectfully,  Henry  B.  Smith. 


FROil  REV.  S.   IREX.EUS  PRDIE,  D.D. 

New  York,  .Tax.   10,   1871. 

Gentlemen  :  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  how  deeply  I  regret  that 
sudden  illness  prevents  my  attending  the  Italian  Unity  meeting  next 
Thursday  evening.  My  heart  and  soul  are  in  it,  and  the  glorious  event  it 
celebrates.  Italian  Unity  means  the  downfall  of  the  meanest  despotism 
that  disgraced  the  footstool  of  God  until  this  present  year  !  I  have 
lived  beneath  the  throne  of  Pius  IX.,  and  know  what  I  affirm,  when  I 
say  that  no  government  on  this  earth  was  so  hostile  to  the  first  rights 
of  immortal  man  as  was  his,  up  to  the  moment  of  his  fall. 

Having  worshipped  God  in  my  own  way  in  Russia,  and  Austria,  and 
Turkey,  and  Spain — Inning  had  friends  enjoying  the  same  rights  in 
•Japan,  and  China,  and  India — I  came  to  Rome,  and  there  only  of  all 
places  on  this  earth  was  freedom  of  worship  forbidden  under  penalty 
of  the  Inquisition. 

I  rejoice,  therefore,  that  the  Cavour  Constitution  now  extends  over 
the  whole  of  that  classic  and  beautiful  peninsula,  and  that  Rome  is  free. 

There  are  some  American  citizens  who  are  conspiring  to  restore  the 
Pope  to  his  throne.  Such  Americans  have  abjured  their  principles, 
and  are  unlit  to  enjoy  that  liberty  which  is  the  glory  of  our  land. 

I  know  thai   the  Ajnerican   people  are  with  you,  and  my  prayers  are 
i i ice-,-,,- 1 lit  that  the  meeting  may  give  forth  a  voice  that  shall  cheer evi  r\ 
freedom-loving  In-art  in  the  world. 
Very   truly  yours, 

S.  Iiii:\  ei  s  Prime. 


FROM  REV.  LEONARD  BACON,  D.D. 

New  II  \\  en,  January  11,  L871. 
Gentlemen    of    the    Committee:    I    regret    thai     my    duties    at 
home  will  not permrl  me  to  be  presenl   .-it    the  eting,  which  is  to  ex- 
press the  glad  sympathy  of  the  American  people  with   the  people  of 
free  and  united  [taly.     The  meeting  is  the  more   importanl    because  of 

the  danger,  that  certain  protests  against  the  liberty  and  self-gover ml 

of  [taly  may  be  regarded  in  Europe  as  indications  of  American  senti- 
ment.    X"our  great  meeting  will  represenl  no  ecclesiastical  organization 


58  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

and  no  political  party,  and  I  trust  it  will  give  convincing  evidence  that 
the  sentiment  of  the  American  people  does  not  utter  itself  in  the  voices 
nor  at  the  dictation  of  men,  whose  allegiance  to  the  dethroned  monarch 
of  the  late  Pontifical  kingdom  is  higher  and  more  sacred  than  their 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  to  those  principles  of  civil  polity 
and  religious  freedom  which  are  the  strength  and  glory  of  our  nation- 
ality. 

As  an  American  rejoicing  in  the  progress  of  those  principles  which 
have  made  my  own  country  free  and  great,  I  rejoice  with  all  patriotic 
Italians  that  now  at  last,  after  so  long  a  period  of  aspiration  and  strug- 
gle, Italy,  from  the  Alps  to  the  farthest  cape  of  Sicily,  is  no  longer  par- 
celled out  into  petty  and  rival  principalities,  but  has  become  one patria, 
the  common  country  of  a  people  rich  in  illustrious  memories,  and,  be- 
cause of  its  growing  freedom,  rich  also  in  more  illustrious  hopes.  I 
rejoice  with  them  that  their  statesmen  have  grasped  the  American  idea 
of  "  a  free  church  in  a  free  State,"  and  are  learning  (what  we  know  so 
well)  that  neither  church  nor  State  can  be  free  if  either  usurps  the  le- 
gitimate functions  of  the  other.  As  a  catholic  Christian,  though  not  a 
Roman  Catholic,  I  congratulate  all  Roman  Catholics,  in  Italy  and 
everywhere  else,  that  the  revered  head  of  their  world-wide  organiza- 
tion for  spiritual  fellowship  may  now  say,  in  simple  verity,  what  that 
august  Personage,  whose  vicar  they  believe  him  to  be,  said,  when  ac- 
cused of  aiming  at  secular  dominion,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world."  I  congratulate  the  venerable  Pontiff  himself  on  that  release 
from  the  cares  and  burdensome  responsibilities  of  secular  government, 
which  permits  him  now  to  say  with  the  primitive  Apostles,  "  We  will 
give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word." 
And  while  we  thus  congratulate  the  Italian  people  on  their  national 
Unity  and  Independence,  why  may  we  not  also  congratulate  the  univer- 
sal Irish  nation  in  both  hemispheres  ?  Surely  their  cherished  hope  of 
"  Ireland  for  the  Irish  "  cannot  but  brighten, — the  cry  with  which,  since 
they  caught  it  from  the  lips  of  Daniel  O'Connell,  they  have  appealed 
to  the  sense  of  congruity  and  of  justice  everywhere, — cannot  but  be- 
come more  effective,  now  that  "Rome  for  the  Romans"  has  become 
not  a  hope  only,  nor  a  cry,  but  an  accomplished  fact. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

Leonard  Bacon. 


FKOM  REV.  EDWARD  N.  KIRK,  D.D. 

Boston,  January  9,  1871. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  :  Our  fellow-citizens   of  the  Papal 
church  have  availed  themselves  of  their   rights  under  a  government 


LETT]  RS. 


59 


which  allows  free  thought  and  free  speech,  to  meet  in  public  as- 
semblies and  express  their  sympathy  with  the  head  of  their  party  oil 
the  loss  of  his  power  to  suppress  free  thought,    free  speech,  and  a  free 

press. 

We.  believers  in  the  rights  of  conscience,  now  avail  ourselves  of  the 
privilege  to  express  our  sympathy  with  Italy's  noble  sons,  that  they 
have  at  length,  by  the  kind  providence  of  God,  accomplished  their  long- 
cherished  desire  of  forming  an  Italian  nation  under  a  constitutional 
monarchy.  The  chief  Bishop  of  the  Latin  Church  is  now  freed  from 
the  perplexing  and  distracting  cares  of  civil  government:,  and  the  temp- 
tations of  political  life.  The  people  are  now  permitted  to  worship  God 
as  they  understand  him  to  require.  The  gates  of  the  Ghetto  are  now 
opened,  and  the  Jewish  race  no  longer  proscribed. 

With  most  cordial  greetings  we  therefore- congratulate  the  Pope,  his 
followers,  the  Jews,  the  Italians,  and  the  friends  of  liberty  throughout 
the  world,  that  the  world  is  advancing  to  the  era  of  charity,  liberty,  and 
justice.  He  is  coming  of  whom  it  is  pi^edicted  :  "  He  shall  judge  thy 
people  with  righteousness,  and  thy  poor  with  judgment;  and  shall  break 
in  pieces  the  oppressor." 

May  your  anticipated  meeting  express  the  heart  of  America  ! 

Yours  respectfully, 

Edward  N.  Kirk. 


FROM  REV.   HORACE  BESHXELL,  D.D. 

Hartford,  January  11,  1871. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Committee:  I  received  a  letter  some  days  ago, 
requesting  me  to  attend  a  meeting  in  New  York,  to  celebrate  the  com- 
pletion of  Italian  I'nity.  I  have  been  away  from  home  till  just  now. 
and  have  been  too  much  unsettled  by  other  work  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  this;  so  that,  being  quite  unable  to  attend  the  meeting,  I  can 
only  give  you  a  few  words  to  express  my  profound  sympathy  with  its 
objects.  Twenty-five  years  ago  I  spent  a  part  of  a  winter  at  Rome,  and 
became  so  far  oppressed  by  the  abuses  thereof  law  and  «i\  il  administra- 
tion, thai  E  was  constrained  to  seek  relief  in  the  presumptuous,  and, 
mosi  people  thought,  very  foolish  \\a\  of  writing  and  pubKshing  a  letter 
to  the  Pope.  That  letter  was  shortly  translated, and  was  circulated  for 
a  Long  time  as  one  of  the  incendiary  documents — entered  in  the  Index 
Expurgatorius under  that  description,  bet  that  letter,  at  least,  he  my 
uiionv  of  s_\  mpatliv  in  the  ei\  il  emancipation  of  Italy.  If  it  did  an\ 
good  I  am  -lad,  and  if  it  did  not,  I  shall  certainlj  not  do  more  l>\  anj 
thing  I  can  write  now,  after  the  fact  is  accomplished. 

With  great  respect   for  the  proposed   meeting  audits  objects,  I  am, 
v,,m  .  Hob  \'T.  Bi  shnell. 


60  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

FROM  REV.  JOHN  N.  McLEOD,  D.D. 

New  York,  January  6,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  The  meeting  to  "  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian 
Unity,"  which  it  is  proposed  to  hold  on  12th  of  January,  1871,1  regard 
as  of  great  importance.  The  event  which  it  is  designed  to  mark  and 
commemorate  is  among  the  most  interesting  of  this  veiy  prolific  age, 
and  its  influence  in  promoting  the  spread  of  civil  liberty  and  a  Chris- 
tian civilization  cannot  but  be  powerful.  The  endorsement  which  the 
world  is  now  giving  to  our  own  Republican  institutions  is  most  en- 
couraging to  ourselves,  and  assuredly  we  should  not  be  backward  in 
bestowing  our  sympathy  and  congratulation  on  the  people  of  Italy,  who 
have  effected  the  emancipation  of  Rome  itself.  Free  Italy,  and  free 
Rome  as  its  capital,  must  soon  become  a  centre  of  light  and  happiness 
to  the  surrounding  world.  I  hope  to  be  present  at  the  proposed  meet- 
ing, and  share  in  the  enthusiasm  which  it  must  certainly  produce. 

Respectfully  yours, 

John  N.  McLeod. 


FROM  REV.  H.  D.  GANSE. 

New  York,  Jan.  10,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  You  ask  me  an  expression  of  my  sympathy  with  the 
cause  of  Italian  Unity.  Such  an  expression  I  am  very  willing  to 
make;  not  only  or  chiefly  on  account  of  the  interest  I  feel  in  the 
consolidation  of  a  nation  so  long  distracted  ;  but  especially  from  my 
regard  of  the  fundamental  principle  which  the  method  of  Italian 
reconstruction  has  so  clearly  recognized  :  the  principle,  namely,  that  the 
people  have  a  right  to  choose  their  government. 

Not  a  few  of  our  fellow-citizens,  as  is  well  known,  refuse  to  accord 
any  such  right  to  the  late  subjects  of  the  Pope.  Can  they  have  consi- 
dered the  evident  reach  of  the  argument  by  which  the  right  is  denied  ? 
That  argument  is :  That  the  religious  interests  of  the  Catholic  world 
demand  for  its  chief  Pontiff  a  territory  which  he  may  hold  by  inde- 
feasible sovereignty,  so  that  any  attempt  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  ter- 
ritory to  alienate  it  from  its  religious  owner  is  not  mere  rebellion  against 
a  worldly  government,  but  injury  to  all  the  spiritual  subjects  of  a  hierarch 
who  governs  by  direct  warrant  from  God  himself. 

If  this  position  be  true,  there  is  demonstrated  one  case,  at  least,  in 
which  the  religious  interests  of  some  men  are  entitled  to  diminish  the 
political  liberty  of  other  men.  It  will  be  claimed,  indeed,  that  the 
political  liberty  thus  coveted  is  nothing  less  than  license,  since  it  pro- 
poses to  break  over  the  clear  requirement  of  Cod.  But  to  whom  is 
that    divine    requirement  made  clear?  Not  to  those    who    covet   the 


LETTERS.  61 

liberty;  for  they  confidently  deny  thai  an\  such  requiremenl  exists. 
It  is  the  Catholic  world,  outside  of  Italy,  that  is  persuaded  of  the 
divine  restriction  set  upon  the  liberty  of  Italians,  and  that  proposes  to 
enforce  the  restriction  upon  thai  reluctant  people. 

It  comes  to  this,  then  :  That  the  religious  opinion  of  men  in  one  coun- 
try, or  set  of  countries,  is  entitled  to  diminish  the  political  liberty  of 
men  in  another  country.  Now,  accordingto  our  American  principle  of 
the  rights  of  conscience,  religious  opinion  is  of  absolute  authority  within 
its  own  domain,  which  is  no  more  and  no  less  than  the  bosom  of  him  who 
holds  it.  The  conscientious  convictions  of  any  man  may  override  just 
as  many  of  his  own  worldly  interests — not  of  his  civil  duties — as  may 
seem  good  to  him  ;  and  they  cannot  be  overridden  by  any  convictions  or 
interests  of  any  other  man  or  men.  But  the  moment  the  religious  con- 
science in  one  man  proposes  to  limit  or  control  any  interest  of  any 
other  man,  it  is  an  intruder,  and  must  be  driven  back.  This  principle 
does  not  prevent  the  enactment  and  execution  of  laws  against  crime  ; 
for  such  laws  are  demanded  by  public  policy,  apart  from  the  religious 
conscience.  Even  the  laws  which  guard  a  weekly  rest-day,  while  they 
secure  to  the  religious  conscience  its  evident  right  to  worship,  exact 
no  sacrifices  of  liberty  but  those  which  all  experience,  apart  from  such 
conscience,  has  found  to  be  for  the  good  of  society  and  the  State.  ' 

If  this  American  definition  of  the  rights  of  the  religious  conscience 
be  sound,  how  shall  the  conscience  of  the  Roman  Catholic  ( 'hurch  be 
able,  even  from  distant  countries,  to  fasten  on  Italians  a  government 
of  which  they  an-  uvaiy  ?  And  if  our  American  principle  must  so  far 
give  way  thai  the  religious  concscience  of  American  Catholics  can  override 
the  civil  rights  of  Italians,  what  shall  oblige  Americans  to  restrict  the 
exercise  of  this  religious  prerogative  to  Italian  soil?  It  is  only  on  the 
ground  of  an  exclusive  divine  guarantee  that  any  religion  could  enlist  its 
adherents  in  the  extravaganl  demand  which  is  now  made  And  an  ex- 
clusive divine  guarantee  is  as  good  against  the  civil  interests  of  one  man 
as  of  another.  Accordingly,  such  appropriation  of  the  wealth  of  this  mixed 
community  is  now  made  to  the  support  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  as 
would  never  be  tolerated  by  Catholics  themselves,  except  upon  the 
ground  that  their  religion  is  the  sole  true  religion,  and  is  entitled  to 
such  support.  If  the  Baptist  denomination  or  the  I'reshs  terian  could 
be  brought  to  accept  such  subsidies  oul  of  the  public  treasury,  the  general 
indignation  and  their  own  shame  would  oblige  them  speedily  to  return 
them.  There  is  just  one  sorl  of  religious  conscience  among  us  thai  demands 

this  use  of  the  wealth  of  an  American  State;  and  that  is  the  con- 
Science  winch  demands  the  extinction  of  civil  liberty  in  Italy.  It 
plants  itself,  in  either  case,  upon  a  divine  prerogative.  Such  a  prero- 
gative, once  admitted,  is  an  unmanageable  thing;  and  ii  cannot  he  kepi 
to  hit  it  nl 


G2  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

The  effort  which  is  now  making  to  restore  the  Pope  to  his  temporal 
throne  is  the  most  formal  and  deliberate  avowal,  that  the  religion  of 
Rome  subordinates  civil  rights  to  its  necessities. 

The  friends  of  United  Italy,  on  the  other  hand,  declare  that  no  true 
religion  limits  the  civil  liberty  of  any  living  soul. 

The  ultimate  verdict  of  our  countrymen  and  of  mankind  on  these 
two  avowals  will  be  wise  and  safe.  Even  thoughtful  Romanists,  no  less 
than  others,  will  consent  that  the  spiritual  relations  of  their  chief  Pon- 
tiff, which,  as  matter  of  conscientious  conviction,  all  good  men  are 
obliged  to  respect  and  defend,  should  supersede  those  temporal  relations 
which  can  no  longer  be  maintained,  except  by  destroying  the  founda- 
tions of  just  government. 

Yours,  very  respectfully, 

H.  D.  Ganse. 


FROM  MARK  HOPKINS,  D.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  WILLIAMS  COLLEGE. 

Williamstown,  Mass.,  Jan.  21,  1871. 

Dear  Sir  :  If  my  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  Italian  Unity  can 
avail  anything,  I  rejoice  to  express  it,  for  I  believe  it  to  be  the  cause  of 
civil  and  religious  freedom. 

We  do  not,  in  this  country,  believe  in  a  union  of  Church  and  State 
in  any  form.  We  do  not  believe  in  a  national  religion  in  which,  as  in 
England,  the  Church  is  subordinated  to  the  State.  We  do  not  believe 
in  a  religious  organization,  like  that  of  popery,  which  claims  the  right 
to  subordinate  States  to  itself.  We  do  not  believe  in  a  double  power 
within  a  limited  region  over  both  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  which 
may  enable  its  possessor,  in  virtue  of  his  position  as  a  civil  ruler,  to 
become  a  political  centre  to  his  adherents  in  other  countries,  to  collect 
money  from  them  for  political  purposes,  and,  by  means  of  his  public 
representatives  and  secret  agents,  to  enter  into  political  intrigues  in 
those  countries.  We  do  not  believe  in  a  power  which  discourages  pop- 
ular education  and  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  and  whose  sway  has  al- 
ways resulted,  in  proportion  to  its  completeness,  in  an  inability  of  the 
mass  of  the  people  even  to  read.  We  do  not  believe  in  a  power  which 
asks  freedom  of  speech  and  of  worship  for  itself  and  denies  them  to 
others.  We  believe  in  no  power,  civil  or  religious,  that  requires  to  be 
supported  by  foreign  bayonets,  and  we  see  a  special  incongruity  in  this 
where  such  a  power  claims  to  be  the  vicegerent  of  the  God  of  love  and 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  We  cannot  believe  that  those  "  Keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven  "  which  our  Lord  intrusted  to  Peter  were  ever  in- 
tended, or  can  be  made,  to  turn  bolts  of  despair  upon  prisoners  in  the 


LETTERS.  ,;"' 

Inquisition.  We  believe  in  no  priesthood  now  on  the  earth,  but  only 
in  the  one  great  High  Priest  above  ;  butif  there  be  such  a  priesthood, 
sureh  the  experiment  of  a  thousand  years,  now  brought  to  an  end  1>\ 
Catholics  themselves,  ought  to  convince  all  that  those  composing  it  are 
not  tit  toconduct  the  affairs  of  civil  government. 

That  such  a  priestly,  complex,  anomalous  power,  thus  tested,  should 
so  come  to  an  end,  is  the  great  event  of  the  century  ;  and  we  rejoice  in 
it.  We  rejoice  also  in  what  we  believe  is  to  take  the  place  of  this 
power — a  United  Italy,  a  constitutional  government,  general  educa- 
tion, freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  worship,  free- 
dom to  associate  for  social  and  literary  ends  without  supervision  or  es- 
pionage— these  we  trust  will  take  its  place.  We  trust  that  industry  and 
commerce  will  revive,  that  wealth  will  increase,  that  brigandage  and 
beggary  will  be  diminished,  or  cease  altogether,  and  that  Italy,  so  cel- 
ebrated in  the  past,  shall  become  the  admiration  and  the  resort  of  other 
nations,  not  alone  for  what  she  has  been,  but  for  what  she  is. 
Yours  in  the  cause  of  Freedom, 

Mark  Hopkins. 


FROM  PRES.  EDWARDS  A.   PARK,  D.D.,  ANDOVER  THEO.   SEMINARY. 

Andover,  Mass.,  January,  L871. 
DEAB    Sii;  :    In   the  early  days  of  Massachusetts  there    was  a  kind  of 
union  between  the  Church  and  the  State.      The  Congregational  denomi- 
nation   was   called    the    '-standing    order,"  and    had    certain    privileges 
which    were    denied    to    other    denominations.        These    privileges    were 

gradually  reduced,  and  in  1834  the  last  vestige  of  the  favoritism  was 
removed.  This  deprivation  of  State  aid  was  regarded  by  the  Congre- 
gationalists  themselves  as  a  great  advantage  to  them.  <  >u  the  same 
principle,  if  the  Church  of  Home  will  make  a  light  us-  of  its  loss  of 
temporal  power,  this  loss  will   be  the  greatest  gain  it   has  received  for 

centuries.       It     will    tend    to    divert    the    attention    of    the  Church  from 

external  splendors  to  the  cultivation  of  that  character,  on   which  the 

true  prosperity  of  a  church  essentially  depends,       Arrhhjshop   .Manning, 

preaching  in  the  City  of  Home,  about  a  year  ago,  said  thai  the  Church 
has  suffered  much  from  the  opposition  of  princes,  hut  still  more  from 
their famor.  lie  might  have  added,  that  it  has  Buffered  vet  more  from 
tin-  tad  of  itself  holding  princely  authority.  As  the  connection  between 
the  Church  and   the  State  is   Injurious  to  both  parties,  it  must  be  pre 

eminently   injurious  when   the  <  'lunch  bed IS  itself  the  State  power.      It 

I  were  a  Romanist,  laboring  for  the  spiritual  improvement  of  the  Romish 
Church,  I  should  rejoice  rather  than  complain,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the   Pope   has  now   .-eased   to  exercise  a    political  jurisdiction;  and  I 


01  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

should  rejoice  in  the  unification  of  Italy  as  favorable,  rather  than  detri- 
mental,  to   the  religious  welfare  not  only   of  Italy,   but  also  of  the 

world. 

Edwards  A.  Park. 


FROM  REV.  T.  D.  ANDERSON,  D.  D. 

New  York,  Jan.  20,  1871. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  :  Absence  from  New  York  alone  pre- 
vented an  earlier  response  to  your  very  kind  note.  And  now  I  can  only 
snatch  a  moment  from  the  pressure  of  duties,  accumulated  while  away, 
to  secure  the  honor  of  having  my  name  associated  with  theirs  who  send 
the  heartiest  congratulations  to  regenerated  Italy :  an  Italy  whose 
future  realization  is  destined  to  eclipse  the  glorious  memories  of  its  past 
as  far  as  the  inspiration  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  transcends  the  influence 
of  the  teachings  of  Cicero  or  Seneca. 

History  has  rarely  written  on  her  scroll  a  heading  which  introduces  a 
chapter  of  such  thrilling  events  as  when  she  wrote,  in  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy,  Italian  Nationality. 

It  was  then  that  the  struggles  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  the  nation, 
so  often  resulting  in  defeat  and  disappointment,  but  always  directed  to 
one  end,  were  seen  not  to  have  been  in  vain.  Then  the  fair  and  classic 
land  of  Italy,  so  long  trodden  under  the  foot  of  oppression,  so  long  divided 
and  meted  out  among  its  rapacious  enemies,  so  long  despoiled  of  the 
possession  of  its  own  rich  and  varied  products,  became  again  the  prop- 
erty of  Italians,  to  be  inhabited  by  Italians,  to  be  governed  by  Italians, 
and  to  be  made  glorious  by  Italians. 

Then  shone  forth  that  patriotism  whose  brightness  no  reverses  could 
dim,  and  whose  ardor  no  sufferings  could  queue]),  which,  as  soon  as  the 
hireling  soldiery  of  a  foreign  State  were  recalled,  forgot  all  differences 
of  condition,  all  diversities  of  religion,  creed,  and  political  opinion,  and 
voted  with  a  unanimity  as  sublime  as  it  was  effective— Italy  shall  be 
one,  and  its  capital  is  Home. 

Then  a  Class  government,  wielding  the  powers  of  temporal   sove- 
reignty only  to  repel  progress,  to  fetter  intelligence,  to  oppress  con- 
science,  and  trample  on  the  most  sacred  rights  of  man,  fell  by  the- 
expressed  determination  of  its  subjects,  and  lay  powerless  before  the 
will  of  the  people  it  had  so  wantonly  affected  to  despise. 

Then,  in  the  very  Land  and  City  where  all  that  is  most  revolting  in 
the  union  of  Church  and  State  had  its  rise,  and  for  so  many  ages  put 
forth  its  usurped  supremacy,  was  the  unhallowed  alliance  broken,  and 
Catholic  and  Protestant  alike  asserted  the  liberty  of  conscience  ; 
while  on  the  very  spot  where  the  great  Apostle  declared  it,  they  echo 
the  cry,  "  The  word  of  God  is  not  bound." 


I.ll  I  BRS. 

All  hail,  Italy  !  The  Republic  of  America  sends  you  her  grei  ting 
she  welcomes  you  among  the  nations.     The  sympathies  of  the  free  of 
all  lands  are  with  you ;    and  now,  as  eighteen  centurii       a   ,  Christians 
are  praying  thai  -  The  ( tod  of  hope  may  till  you  with  all  joy  ami  peace." 

1  rejoice,  gentlemen,  that  tin-  voice  of  the  thousands  gathered  last 
week  in  our  city  gave  uo  uncertain  sound  to  our  brethren  in  Italy.  I 
hope  in  all  our  cities  oppoiiranities  for  the  expression  of  the  same  good- 
will may  be  given.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

Tuos.  D.  Anderson. 


FROM.  REV.  W.  W.  EVERTS. 

<  !hicago,  Jan.  1.  1871. 

Deab  Sir:  The  circular  requesting  views  on  the  completion  of 
Italian  Unity,  and  the  new  promise  h-r  religious  liberty  now  brighten- 
ing over  the  home  and  .stronghold  of  spiritual  despotism,  is  acknow- 
ledged. 

The  imposture  of  Papacy  has  always  seemed  to  me  clearly  attested 
by  its  usurpation  of  temporal  power.  Appeal  to  defences  of  worldly 
kingdoms  burlesques  its  claims  to  represent  a  "kingdom  not  of  this 
world." 

<  >nly  the  hallucination  of  partisan  bigotry  could  ever  have  imagined 
the  modern  Pope,  with  splendors  of  an  earthly  court,  with  magistracy 
and  police,  tribunals  and  prisons,  enforcing  dogmas  by  the  inquisition 
and  guarding  his  person  and  maintaining  his  authority  by  the  sword, 
the  successor  and  representative  of  the  Divine  Saviour,  who  took  no 
sword,  instituted  no  court,  opened  no  prison,  but,  declaring  his  king- 
dom was  not  of  this  world,  ruled  only  by  puiity  of  example  and  autho- 
rity  of  teaching,  promise,  and  warning. 

The  Loss  of  temporal  power  of  the   Papacy,  noi  merely  in  Rome  but 
in  other   Papal   lands,  and   the  consequeni   overthrow  of  the  spiritual 
despotism  based   upon  it,  maj  well  oheer  the  friends  of  liberty,  pro- 
.  and  true  religion  throughout  the  world. 
Sours  trul_\ , 

W.  W.   Everts. 


FROM  i:i;v.    THOMAS   FARRELL,   ROMAS    CATHOLIC   PASTOR  OP  ST. 
JOSEPH'S  CHURCH,   \i:\V  STORK 

St.  Joseph's,  January  I  2,  1871. 
Gentlemen    of   the    Committee:   I   regrel   thai  I   cannol   be  pres- 
'"<   ;,t    the  meeting  in  favor  of  Italian  Unity.      Etaly  divided  has  long 
been  the  prey  of  the  foreigner.     \     I  would  not  like  to    ee  foreign  sol- 


66  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

diers  on  my  own  native  soil,  nor  would  I  consider  it  an  evidence  of  the 
contentment  and  happiness  of  the  people,  so  I  could  not  wish  to  see 
Italy  occupied  by  foreign  troops,  nor  could  I  consider  their  presence 
there  as  an  evidence  of  the  contentment  of  the  people. 

According  to  the  old  theory  and  practice  of  European  nations,  people 
may  be  given  and  taken  away  without  their  consent.  All  that  must 
be  changed  before  the  people  can  be  contented.  They  must  own  them- 
selves. Standing  armies  must  be  abolished.  Navies,  also,  except  a 
few  vessels  furnished  by  each  nation  for  the  protection  of  commerce  on 
the  high  seas,  must  be  got  rid  of.  It  is  a  monstrous  injustice  to  tax 
and  oppress  people  beyond  endurance  to  gratify  the  policy  and  ambition 

of  kings. 

How  long  ignorance  will  keep  people  from  seeing  how  easily  they 
might  set  rid  of  their  grievances,  and  the  cause  of  them,  it  is  hard  to 
tell ;  but  I  am  convinced  that  it  cannot  be  long.  Though  it  is  not  for 
me  to  predict  what  the  destiny  of  United  Italy  will  be,  still  I  do  not 
believe  that  she  will  stop  where  she  is.  They  have  yet  a  great  deal  to 
learn  and  practise. 

The  people  of  the  old  world  don't  understand  what  equality  before 
the  law  means  ;  for,  if  they  did,  they  would  soon  get  rid  of  aristocracy 
by  inheritance  or  patent,  which,  like  caste,  is  the  greatest  curse  of  the 
world. 

The  people,  too,  of  every  country  and  of  every  creed  have  so  long 
been  persecuted  on  account  of  religion,  that  they  do  not  understand  our 
theory  and  our  practice  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  When  they 
come  to  understand  and  practise  it  the  world  over,  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  human  misery  and  oppression  will  be  removed  forever. 
That  all  men  throughout  the  world  may  soon  enjoy  civil  and  religious 
liberty  and  equality  before  law,  is  the  sincere  wish  of  yours  truly, 

Thos.   Farrell. 

[  Comments  of  the  Evening  Post  on  the  preceding  Letter.^ 
We  refer  our  readers  to  the  letter  of  Father  Farrell,  addressed  to 
the  committee  which  made  the  arrangements  for  the  late  great  meeting 
at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  favor  of  Italian  Unity.  Father  Farrell 
is  an  enlightened  Catholic,  who  can  see  that  those  who  protest  against 
conferring  civil  and  religious  liberty  on  the  people  of  Rome  are  protest- 
ing against  the  free  institutions  of  our  own  country,  and  virtually  admit- 
ting that  if  the  power  of  persecution  were  in  their  hands,  they  also 
would  persecute  all  who  worship  in  any  other  manner  than  that  pre- 
scribed by  the  Latin  Church,  or  who  openly  maintain  any  religious 
opinions  different  from  those  permitted  by  the  Pope. 

It  is  too  late  in  the  day  to  maintain  this  doctrine.     A  good  many 


LETTEK8.  67 

will  have  signed  the  protest   to  oblige  the  priests,  and,  if  interrogated 

in  private,  would  not  hesitate  to  express  their  detestation  of  the  arro- 
gant assumption  implied  in  it,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  wherever  thej 
can  obtain  the  power  ought  to  put  down  heresy  by  force.  It  is  verj 
likely,  indeed  there  ean  be  no  doubt,  that  there  are  bigots  among  them, 
who  dream  of  the  time  when  their  denomination  will  be  strong  enough 

O  © 

to  do  this,  but  it   is  the  idlest  of  dreams.      The   world   is  not  iioing  that 

©  © 

way.  The  stream  of  tendencies  flows  in  quite  a  different  direction. 
Religious  persecution  is  growing  more  and  more  out  of  fashion.  The 
practice  of  favoring  one  religious  denomination  at  the  expense  of  the 
rest  is  becoming  every  day  more  odious.  Churches  established  by  law 
are  deprived  by  law  of  their  immemorial  privileges,  and  left  to  stand  or 
fall  by  themselves.    In  the  course  of  events,  every  form  of  religion  now 

»  © 

upheld  by  the  law  will  tind  itself  turned  out  into  the  world,  to  struggle 

"  ©O 

for  the  mastery — perhaps  for  existence — with  the  rival  denominations. 

And  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  cause  of  religion  will  gain  immenseh 

by  this  great  change. 

In  a  well-considered  article  in  the  Princeton  Hevieio   for  January, 

on  "The  Papal  Temporal  Power,"  we  find  an  extract  from  a  discourse 

of  the  eminent  prelate  of  the  Papal  Church,  Archbishop  Manning   in 

which,  alter  a  good  deal  of  grumbling  at  the  emancipation  of  Koine  as 

a   robbery   and   a  "  violation  of  sovereign    rights,  the  oldest   and   most 

sacred  in  the  world,"  the  reverend  orator  goes  on  to  say: — 

'•One  thing  is  certain— wc  shall  have  among  us  fewer  bad  Catholics,  worldly 
Catholics,  lax  Catholics,  and  liberal  Catholics.  When  the  world  turns  upon  the 
church,  such  men  are  either  reclaimed  or  fall  off.  When  trial  comes,  it.  dees  net 
pay  to  be  a  Catholic;  to  be  firm  costs  something.  Only  these  who  hold  faith 
dearer  than  life  stand  the  test.  We  are  not  afraid  of  this  sifting.  Nbmkvd 
( latholics  are  our  weakness  and  vexation,  ear  scandal  and  our  shame  ;  sometimes 
they  are  our  greatest  danger." 

This  is  well  said.  If  the  Church,  whose  centre  is  at  Rome,  is  not 
the  better  for  this  purification,  it.  will  be  the  fault  of  those  who  belong 

to  it.       We  wish,  for  our    part,  that   the  same    salutary  process  could  !>e 

applied  in  this  State,  and  that  the  priests  who  administer  t  he  Roman 
Catholic  schools  here  could  be  compelled  bo  let  go  their  hold  on  the  pub- 
lic revenues,  which  a  set  of  unprincipled  politicians  have  put  into  their 
hands  in  the  hope  of  purchasing  their  influence  in  the  elections. 

The  advantage  pointed  oul  by  Archbishop  Manning,  as  resulting 
from  the  overthrow  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope,  ought,  in  fact,  to 
make  his  Church  ample  amends  for  all  the  pleasure  which  the  hierarchy 
lose  by  being  deprived  of  the  exercise  of  a  hateful  despotism,  wringing 
heavy  taxes  from  an  unwilling  people,  putting  the  gag  on  all  discussion, 
h\  speech  or  the  press,  watching  against  the  introduction  ofall  books 
which  question  the  dogmas  of  their  ( Ihurch,  and  making  themselves  so 
generally  detested,  thai  the  moment  the  people  are  asked  to  say  \>\  theii 


68  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

votes  whether  they  will  bear  this   sort  of  rule  any  longer,   they  answer 
uNo,"  with  an  acclamation  which  is  heard  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Of  Father  Farrell,  to  whose  letter  we  referred  in  the  beginning  of 
this  article,  we  have  heard  an  anecdote  creditable  to  his  good  sense 
and  his  just  estimate  of  the  value  of  religious  liberty.  When  the  pro- 
test against  giving  a  constitutional  government  to  the  people  of  Rome 
was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Catholic  clergy  of  this  city,  in  order  to 
obtain  for  it  the  signatures  of  their  flocks,  he  declined  to  read  it  from 
his  pulpit.  Another  priest  read  it,  after  which  Father  Farrell  said  to 
the  congregation :  "  You  have  heard  the  paper  read  ;  such  of  you  as  ap- 
prove it  have  the  opportunity  of  signing  it.  I  shall  not."  He  could 
not  have  done  otherwise  consistently  with  the  principle  laid  down  in 
his  letter,  that  all  religious  denominations  ought  to  stand  on  a  footing 
of  perfect  equality  before  the  law.  It  would  have  been  well  if  more 
of  his  Catholic  brethren  had  followed  his  example,  instead  of  signing  a 
paper  which  is  virtually  a  denunciation  of  our  own  institutions. 


FROM  JAMES  D.  DANA,  PROF.  OF  GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY,  YALE 

COLLEGE. 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  Jan.  8,  1871. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  thank  you  for  the  invitation  to  the  meeting  which  is 
to  be  held  in  New  York  "  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity,11 
and  regret  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  be  present.  I  hope  that  it  will 
be  a  great  meeting,  one  in  full  harmony  with  the  majestic  steps  of  pro- 
gress the  world  is  now  taking. 

No  other  decade  in  human  history,  except  one,  can  vie  with  this  in 
importance.  It  began  with  a  struggle  on  the  Western  Continent,  that, 
in  its  triumph,  gave  the  death-blow  to  chattel-slavery  throughout  the 
land  and  for  the  world.  It  has  ended  in  a  struggle  on  the  Eastern 
Continent  which  has  restored  liberty  to  Rome,  and  Rome  to  Italy,  and, 
more  than  this,  has  broken  the  yoke  of  papal  domination  for  all  time. 
May  the  freedom  thus  initiated  have  its  speedy  consummation  in  free 
speech,  free  schools,  and  a  free  church  for  universal  Europe  ! 

It  is  cheering  to  believe  that  God's  hand  is  in  the  movement,  and 
that  a  higher  and  holier  civilization  will  be  the  grand  issue. 

I  have  special  reason  to  rejoice  with  and  for  Italy,  as  my  family  name 
is  still  to  be  heard  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

James  D.  Dana. 


FROM  JOHN  G.  WHITTIER,  THE  POET. 

Amesbury,  Mass.,  1st  Mo.  4th,  1871. 
Dear  Friend  :  It  would  give  me  more  than  ordinary  satisfaction  to 


LETTERS. 

attend  the  meeting  on  the  12th  instanl  for  the  celebration  of  [talian 
I  nity,  the  emancipation  of  Rome,  and  its  occupation  as  the  permanenl 
capita]  of  the  nation. 

For  many  years  I  have  watched  with  deep  interest  and  sympathy  the 
popular  movemenl  on  the  Italian  peninsula,  and  especially  every  effort 
for  the  deliverance  of  Rome  from  a  despotism  counting  its  age  l.\  cen- 
turies. I  looked  at  these  straggles  of  the  people  with  Little  reference 
to  their  ecclesiastical  or  sectarian  bearings.  11a. I  1  been  a  Catholic 
instead  of  a  Protestant,  I  should  have  hailed  every  symptom  of  Roman 
deliverance  from  Papal  rule,  occupying,  as  I  have,  the  standpoint  of  a 
republican  radical,  desirous  that  all  men,  of  all  creeds,  should  enjoy  the 
<  nil  liberty  which  I  prized  so  highly  for  myself. 

I  lost  all  confidence  in  the  French  republicof  1849,  when  it  forfeited 
its  own  right  to  exist  by  crushing  out  the  newly-formed  Roman  republic 
under  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi.  From  that  ho.nr  it  was  doomed,  and  the 
expiation  of  its  monstrous  crime  is  still  going  on.  Mj  sympathies  are 
with  Jules  Favre  and  Leon  Gambetta  in  their  efforts  to  establish  and 
sustain  a  republic  in  France, but  1  confess  that  the  investment  of  Paris 
by  Km-  William  seems  to  me  the  logical  sequence  of, he  bombardment 
of  Rome  by  Oudinot.  And  is  it  not  a  significant  fact  that  the  terrible 
chassepot,  which  made  its  first  bloody  experiment  upon  the  half-armed 
Italia,,  patriots  without  the  walls  of  Rome,  lias  failed  in  the  hands  of 
French  republicans  against  the  inferior  ueedle-gun  of  Prussia?  It  was 
said  of  a  fierce  actor  in  the  old  French  Revolution  that  he  demoralized 
tie-  guillotine.     The  massacre  at  Montana  demoralized  the  chassepot. 

II  is  :l  quitter  of  congratulation   that   the  redemption  of  Rome   has 
"  effected  so  easily  and  1,1 llessly.     The  despotism  of  a  thousand 

years  fell  a-  a  touch  in  noiseless  rottenness.  The  people  of  Hum.-.  fift3 
to  one,  cast  their  ballots  of  condemnation  like  so  many  shovelfuls  of 'earth 
upon  it.  grave.  Outside  of  Rome  there  seems  to  be  a  ver}  general 
acquiescence  in  its  downfall.  X,,  Peter  the  Eermit  preaches  a  Crusade 
mita  behalf.  No  one  of  the  great  Catholic  powers  of  Europe  lifts  a 
finSer  for  [t-  Whatever  may  be  the  feelings  of  Isabella  of  Spain  and 
the  fugitive  son  of  King  Bomba,  thej  are  i„  no  condition  to  come  to  its 

''"""''•       ''    "  reserved   for   A.mericai clesiastics,   loud-] thed    in 

l,rofe8sions  of  democracy,  to  make  solemn   protest   against  whal    they 

oall  an  "outrage,"  which  gives  the  people  of  R the  right  of  cho 

Lng  their  own  government,  and  denies  the  divine  right  of  I  ings  in  the 
person  of  Pio  Nono. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  temporal   power  oi   the    Pope  will  prove  a 
blessing  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  well  as  to  the  world.      Mauj  of  iti 
""'-'   learned  and  devout   prie  I  s  and  laymen  have  long  seen  the  nei 
Lt3  of    "•||  ■''  change,  which  takes  from  it  a  reproach  and  Bcandal  th 


70  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

could  no  longer  be  excused  or  tolerated.  A  century  hence  it  will 
have  as  few  apologists  as  the  Inquisition  or  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew. 

In  this  hour  of  congiatulation  let  us  not  forget  those  whose  suffering 
and  self-sacrifice,  in  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  Providence,  prepared  the 
way  for  the  triumph  which  we  celebrate.  As  we  call  the  long  illustri- 
ous roll  of  Italian  patriotism — the  young,  the  brave,  and  beautiful; 
the  gray-haired,  saintly  confessors  ;  the  scholars,  poets,  artists,  who,  shut 
out  from  human  sympathy,  gave  their  lives  for  God  and  country  in  the 
slow,  dumb  agony  of  prison  martyrdom- — let  us  hope  that  they  also  re- 
joice with  us,  and,  inaudible  to  earthly  ears,  unite  in  our  thanksgiving : 
"  Alleluia  !  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth  !  He  hath  avenged 
the  blood  of  his  servants  !  " 

In  the  belief  that  the  unity  of  Italy  and  the  overthrow  of  Papal  rule 
will  strengthen  the  cause  of  liberty  throughout  the  civilized  world, 
I  am  very  truly  thy  friend, 

John  G.   Whittier. 


FROM  R.  W.  EMERSON. 

Concord,  Mass.,  January  11,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  cannot  come  to  New  York,  but  I  heartily  join  you 
in  your  joy  at  the  series  of  events  which  within  a  few  years  have  re- 
deemed the  fortunes  of  Italy.  I  am  perhaps  less  acquainted  than 
others  around  you  with  the  details  of  the  history,  but  one  thing  is 
plain,  that  for  a  long  period  the  government  of  Italy  has  been  a  jiro- 
verb  for  misrule.  It  was  foreign— broken  into  small  principalities, 
standing  only  on  military  possession — and  odious  to  the  subjects.  It  is 
now  one  •  native,  constitutional,  and  welcome  to  the  people ;  and  the 
recent  abandonment  of  Rome  by  the  French  troops,  and  the  vote  of 
the  Roman  people  to  accept  the  government  of  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
instead  of  the  anomalous  and  distasteful  temporal  power  of  the  Pope, 
completes  the  emancipation.  In  America  it  is  a  principle  of  our  gov- 
ernment to  abstain  from  the  interference  with  European  States.  That 
is  a  political,  but  no  wise  social  rule.  Italy  has  an  exceptional 
attraction  for  all  nations.  A  visit  to  it  is  a  point  of  education 
— a  necessity  of  culture.  Its  history  was  for  a  long  time  the  history 
of  the  world.  It  was  for  ages  the  centre  and  source  of  the  highest 
civilization,  and  it  was  the  calamity  of  mankind  that  the  genius  of  the 
nation,  to  which  all  nations  owed  theirs,  should  be  oppressed  and  in  part 
extinguished. 

I  rejoice  with  you  in  the  new  days,  with  their  auspicious  omens. 
There  is  a  new  spirit  in  the  world — an  aim  at  better  education,  better 


Ill  I'KKS. 


natural  and  social   science,  and  a   pure  religion,  and   we  behold   with 
more  assurance  the  regeneration  of  [taly.     With  entire  good-will  and 


trust,  Yours, 


K.  W.  Emerson. 


FROM  PROFESSOR  O.   W.   HOLLIES,  M.D. 

Boston,  January  11,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  The  mptestof  the  Committer,  which  you  represent,  over- 
conies  my  reluctance  to  give  an  individual  expression  to  the  common 
feeling  of  interest  in  and  sympathy  for  Italy,  at  this  eventful  period  of  her 
history.  I  need  only  say  that  1  share  the  love  and  veneration  with 
which  the  civilized  world  regards  the  source  and  centre  of  so  much 
that  has  ennobled  and  beautified  the  life  of  humanity.  That  the  people 
of  the  Italian  States  may  be  and  remain  united  in  one  harmonious 
whole,  and  their  capital  become  the  seat  of  an  empire  wider  and  more 
|„.m.{irrut  than  that  of  the  Caisars,  is  the  hope  and  prayer  of  all  who 
reverence  the  records  of  past  achievement,  and  believe  in  the  promise 
of  an  ever-expanding  future. 

fours  very  truly, 

O.  W.  Holmes. 


FROM  JOHN  NEAL,  ESQ. 

Portland,  Me.,  January  '.>,  1871. 

Ci  vh.kmen:      I  am  sorry  to  say  thai  my  engagements  are  so  numerous 
and  pressing  that  I  cannot  be  with  you,  at  your  coming  celebration. 

Bui    I  can  send  greetings,  and  not   in  my  own  name  only,  bul    in    the 
name  of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  who  have  been  wailing  till 
their  heads  are  white  with  hope  deferred,  while  their   hearts  are  swel 
tering  with  inward  fire,  only  to  break  forth  at  the  sound  of  the  trum- 
pel  we  hear  now,  as  (lie  volcanoes  of  public  opinion  sometimes  do. 

[taly  restored  !  Italy  free  !  What  more  can  the  lovers  of  mankind 
ask,  when,  after  their  resurrection,  following  the  midnight  darkness 
of  ages,  bhej  see  a  mighty  people  taking  their  place  among  tic  sover 
eigntiea  of  earth,  vindicating  the  past    and   reasserting  their  equality 

with   the    mightiest?        May    tl'-d    Almighty  Mess    that    people,    and  sel 

them  free  from  Priestcraft,  Superstiti and  Tyranny  ! 

A.ccep1  ni>  heartfell  congratulations  for  yourselves, gentlemen, thai 
y0U  have  dared  to  .all  upon  this  generation  to  remember  the  ohild  of 
Rome,  that  "com wealth  of  kings,"  at  such  a  time.  Most  respect- 
fully and  heartily,  I  am,  gentlemen,  your  fellow-worshipper, 

John  Neal. 


72  'UNITY   OF    ITALY. 

FROM  DR.  J.  G.  HOLLAND,  THE  AUTHOR. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  Friday,  Dec.  30,  1870. 

Dear  Sir  :     If  it  prove  convenient  for  me  to  be  in  the  city  on  the 
12th  prox.,  it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  attend  the  meeting  which 
it  is  proposed  to  hold  at  that  time  for  the  celebration  of  the  completion 
of  Italian  Unity.     I  heartily  rejoice  in  the  consummation  of  the  wishes 
of  the  Italian  people.     I  believe  they  have  an  inherent  right  to  order 
their  own  destiny.     I  wish  that  the  rule  under  which  the  Roman  peo- 
ple have  passed  were  a  better  one,  and  that  the  yoke  of  Pope  and  priest 
could  be  lifted  a  little  higher  from  their  necks;  but  they  have  made  a 
decided  step  toward  freedom,  and  have  distinctly  told  both  Pope  and 
priest  that  in  temporal  aftairs  the  Church  is  not  their  master.     There 
seems  to  be  no  menace  of  the  unity,  so  happily  achieved,  except  in 
the  desire  of  the  King  and  his  Government  to  conciliate  the  Papal  in- 
terest, and  their  disposition  to  tolerate  or  cherish  Papal  functions,  pow- 
ers, immunities,  and  pretensions,  that  can  only  bring  mischief  to  their 
cause.     The  Italian  Government  and  the  Italian  people  can  never  be 
free  until  the  Pope  and  the  priesthood  have  no  moiie  power  in  politics 
than  they  have  in  England  and  the  United  States  ;  until  secular  edu- 
cation is  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  secular  power,  and  the 
people  and  the  children  of  the  people  can  be  everywhere  educated  with- 
out saying  "  by  your  leave  "  to  the  crosier  and  the  cloth. 

I  wish  the  Government  and  people  of  Italy  could  understand  how 
much  real  sympathy  there  is  for  them  in  the  United  States,  and  how 
free  that  sympathy  is  from  all  wish  or  purpose  to  urge  upon  them 
the  adoption  of  our  own  political  and  religious  opinions.  We  rejoice 
in  their  unity  first.  No  matter  how  much  we  may  dislike  the  policy  of 
the  King  and  of  the  Italian  Government  in  according  preposterous 
privileges  and  dignities  to  the  Pope  dethroned,  we  rejoice  that  Victor 
Emmanuel  is  King  of  United  Italy.  We  rejoice  that  Rome  is  to  be  the 
Italian  capital.  We  rejoice  in  all  the  hopes  now  swelling  in  the  bo- 
soms of  a  people  who  have  been  more  oppressed  and  worse  ruled  than 
any  other  people  within  the  bounds  of  Christendom.  And  now,  if 
Italy  could  only  know  that  her  safety  depends  entirely  on  the  univer- 
sal education  of    her    people— outside  of    priestly  prescription  and  au- 

thority and  that,  if  she  gives  a  share   of  her  power  to  the  Church, 

in  any  way,  she  will  give  away  her  birth-right  and  her  nationality  ;  if 
she  could  only  know  this,  as  we  in  America  see  it  and  know  it,  and 
strike  boldly  for  the  good  that  lies  before  her,  and  shake  off  the  spirit- 
ual despotism,  whose  natural  results  are,  and  always  have  been,  igno- 
rance, pauperism,  and  brigandage,  we  could  find  no  words  for  our 
rejoicing,  and  no  limits  to  the  progress  we  should  feel  at  liberty  to 
prophesy  for  her.- 


LI  I  l  EKS. 


\  great  State  can  only  be  made  by  a  great  people;  and  no  people 
can  be  great  who  are  no1  free  and  intelligent.  Whatsoever  thai  obsta- 
cle may  be  whirl,  stands  between  a  people  and  the  light,  is  to  be  pu1  out 
of  the  wa3  :  for  it  cannot  be  religion,  nor  anything  which  places  LtseH 
then,  in  the  interesl  of  religion.  By  acquiring  and  occupying  Rome, 
Italy  has  become  the  enemy  of  the  claims  of  the  Church  of  Rome  to 
temporal  power.  Let  her  carry  thai  enmity  to  its  Logical  results,  in 
assuming  the  education  of  ber  own  people,  and  throwing  off  all  compli- 
cations with  the  Church —making  religion  as  free  as  education,— and 
her  unitv  will  be  permanent,  and  her  greatness  and  prosperity  will  be 
sur,  Yours  very  truly,  J-  G.  Holland. 


FROM  G.  H.  BOKER,  ESQ. 

Philadelphia,  January  11,  L871. 
De\R  Sir:  My  sympathies  are  all  with  the  Italian  patriots,  who 
,,,  now  rejoicing  in  the  elevation  of  Italy  to  something  like  her  old 
Roman  grandeur;  for  who  shall  measure  her  future  development,  or 
set  bounds  to  the  power  of  a  country  that,  in  the  hands  of  the  fathers 
of  your  race,  once  held  the  world  in  awe?  Theabolition  of  slavery  ... 
America,  the  unification  of  Italy  and  of  Germany,  are  in  my  eyes  the 
three  greatest  historical  events  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  most 
promising  for  human  progress. 

I  remain,  dear  sir.  yours  sincerely, 

I'iKO.    H.    BoKEB. 


FROM   EON.  GEO.   S.  HILLARD,  U.  S.    DISTRICT  ATTORNEY,  BOSTON. 

Boston,  Jan.   18,  1871. 

DeabSir:     From  the  27th  daj    of    December  until  the  day  before 

your  meeting,  my  time  and  thoughts  were  wholly  absorbed  by  a  vrerj 

important  case,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  1  was  unable  not   merely  to 

attend  your  celebration,  bul  eve,,  to  express  my  sympathy   in  the  cause 

vdiich  no,,  met  together.     Sou  d ■  but  just.ee  when  you  take  ,, 

for  granted  that  I  feel  the  deepest  interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  tor- 
tune,  of  Italy.     Many  years  ago  it  was  my  fortune  to  pass  s -months 

,„  that  country,and  thej  were  months  fruitful  in  influences  and  rich  in 
memorie  .  I  then  learned  to  love  that  lovely  land.  The  beautiful  pic- 
tures 1  then  brought  away  from  it  rise  up  before  me  as  I  write,  all  un 

touched  bj  time. 

Tl„.  iimi,.  of  Italy  were  then  hound  by  the  chains  of  the  Btranger.    I 
uever  small   forget  the  indignation  and  disgust  I   felt  al  seeing  German 


74  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

troops  in  Milan,  and  Austrian  cannon  under  shadow  of  the  winged  lion 
of  St.  Mark.  With  what  delight  have  I  watched  the  course  of  events 
which  have  finally  broken  these  chains,  and  given  to  Italy  the  blessing 
of  political  independence,  political  autonomy,  which  indeed  is  not  all 
that  a  nation  needs,  but  without  which  everything  else  is  of  little  value  ! 

I  was  not  there  long  enough,  I  did  not  speak  the  language  well 
enough,  to  become  much  acquainted  with  the  people  of  Italy  ;  but  what 
I  did  see  of  them  interested  me  much.  I  was  struck  with  their 
courteous  manners,  their  graceful  speech,  their  ready  sympathies,  their 
quick  perception,  and,  contrary  to  the  general  impression,  their  indus- 
try, whenever  they  had  a  chance  to  work. 

There  seemed  to  be  nothing  wanting  but  opportunity  and  a  sphere  to 
make  the  future  of  Italy  equal  to  its  past.  To  the  young  men  around 
me  there  appeared  to  be  no  future,  and  youth  without  a  future  is  like 
a  day  without  a  morning. 

And  now  I  have  lived  to  see  Italy  free  and  united.  She  needed  both 
blessings— the  blessing  of  liberty,  to  give  her  progression,  energy,  and 
vital  force  ;  and  the  blessing  of  union,  that  her  powers  may  not  be  wasted 
in  conflict,  but  may  work  together  for  a  common  end.  What  Italy 
wants  is  that  which  we  have  secured — unity  and  diversity.  There  is 
(rreat  variety  in  the  physical  structure  of  Italy,  and  there  is  great  va- 
riety in  the  character  and  faculties  of  its  people.  The  centralization 
which  has  been  such  a  curse  in  France  can  never  exist  there.  The  two 
creat  voices,  the  voice  of  the  mountains  and  the  voice  of  the  sea  forbid. 
The  efforts  of  the  patriot  should  be  turned  in  the  contrary  direction,  to 
overcome  those  centrifugal  and  divergent  forces  of  nature  which  have 
been  so  constantly  and  disastrously  felt  in  its  history. 

I  rejoice  in  the  recent  events  which  have  made  Rome  the  capital  of 
Italy,  and  I  think  I  should  do  so  none  the  less  were  I  a  Catholic.  I  think 
the  spiritual  influence  of  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  will 
not  be  lessened,  but  will  be  increased  by  the  loss  of  temporal  power. 
The  present  Pontiff  is  a  most  amiable  and  estimable  man,  and  no  enemy 
to  progress.  How  well  do  I  recall  his  benignant,  intellectual  counte- 
nance, and  the  dignity  and  grace  of  his  bearing  on  all  public  occasions  ! 
But  he  is  but  a  happy  accident,  for  the  teaching  and  training  which  fit 
a  man  to  be  the  head  of  the  Church  do  not  fit  him  to  be  the  head  of  a 
State. 

The  King  of  Italy  and  his  advisers  have  grave  tasks  and  serious  du- 
ties before  them.  They  have,  above  all,  to  grapple  with  the  terrible 
financial  question  which  is  everywhere  so  pressing,  that  huge  mountain 
of  debt  which  is  so  full  of  peril  to  European  civilization.  May  they  be 
wisely  guided  !  May  they  not  mistake  memory  for  hope,  and  aspiration 
for  inspiration,  but  remember  that  the  foundations  alike'  of  national  and 


I.I  I  I  ERS. 


persona]  greatnessare  laid  in  patience, endurance, self-sacrifice,  and  self- 
control!  (;-   s    Killard. 


FROM  HON.  WM.  B.  K1XNKY.  LATE  CHAHGk   D'AFFATEES  AT  TU1UN. 

ITALY. 

EnglEWOOD,  N.  J.,  January  9,  1871. 
Sir:  1  accept  with  hearty  good-will  your  invitation  to  the  proposed 
celebration  of  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity  ty  the  voluntary  acces- 
sion of  Rome,  through  the  free  suffrages  of  its  citizens,  and  its  inaugu- 
ration as  the  capital  of  the  nation. 

N„  event  in  these  eventful  times  so  naturally  stirs  the  hearts  of  the 
American  people  as  this  establishment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  the 
classic  peninsula,  so  long  borne  down  by  the  monstrous  union  of  Church 
and  State;  always  and  everywhere  a  deadly  conspiracy  againsl  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  man.  History  teaches  nothing  more  impera- 
tively, than  that  wherever  these  two  authorities  have  been  united. 
society  and  civilization  have  been  repressed,  as  under  the  most  odious 
of  despotisms.  To  dissolve  this  connection,  and  liberate  both  parties 
from  the  stifling  compact,  was  the  supreme  motive  of  the  authors  of  the 
Reformation,  which  has  achieved  the  glorious  consummation  over  which 
we  are  called  to  rejoice. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  represenl  our  country  at  Turin  during  the 
opening  scenes,  and  to  have  held  for  many  years  intimate  relations  with 
the  chi(  factors  in  the  grand  drama,  and  thus  have  acquired  the  ability 
to  declare,  that  war  againsl  the  strictly  spiritual  prerogatives  of  the 
church  was  never  for  a  moment  thought  of;  as  is  so  persistently 
charged  l'->r  sinister  purposes.  The  patriotic  men  who  inspired  and  led 
the  movement  were  all  members  of  its  communion.  It  was  their  para- 
mount object,  in  the  language  of  their  great  leader,  to  establish  the 
principle  of  "  a  tie,-  <  Ihurch  in  a  free  State,"  for  the  hem  lit  of  both  :  a 
measure  simply  intended  to  restrid  the  Pope  to  his  legitimate  functions 
:I.  a  supreme  spiritual  Pastor,  restore  Rome  to  the  nation,  and  freedom 

to   the   <  'hutch   and    tic    people. 

The  recent  friendly  official  overtures  of  the  King,  which  have  been  so 
Bcornfully  rejected,  breathe  the  same  spirit  of  good-will  :  to  say  nothing 
of  the  questionable  proposal  in  Parliament  to  guarantee  the  spiritual 
freedom  of  tin-  Pope,  to  secure  to  his  <  lardinals  the  dignitj  ol    Princes, 

and  to  sustain    his  <  'oiiit   at    the  expense  of   the    Slate  :    a  COncei    im 

possible  in  an\  country  which  recognizes  no  privileged  classes,  and  ex- 
cludes all  taxation  for  religious  purposes. 

Still,  a  greal  liberation  has  been  accomplished.  In  the  stirring  worda 
of  the  King1     peech  to  the   Parliament,  "  Italj  is  free  and  one  I  "  and 


76 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


the  countrymen  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  may  heartily  respond  with 
one  accord,  in  the  beautiful  language  of  Dante  and  Cavour,  Viva 
V Italia!       Viva  I' Italia! 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  B.  Kinney. 


FROM  W.  D.   HO  WELLS,  ESQ.,  FORMERLY  IT.   S.   CONSUL  AT  VENICE. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  January  7,  1871. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  regret  that  I  cannot  be  present  at  the  meeting  to  which 
you  invite  me,  and  with  the  purposes  of  which  I  sympathize  so 
thoroughly. 

The  liberation  of  Italy  is  a  fact  that  all  real  Americans  will  celebrate 
with  you  in  heart  with  patriotic  fervor,  since  the  citizen  of  every  free 
country  loves  Italy  next  to  his  own  land,  and  feels  her  prosperous 
fortune  to  be  the  advantage  of  civilization.  Her  unity  finally  accom- 
plished through  the  fall  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Popes,  is  a  spectacle 
of  which  we  shall  more  and  more  discern  the  grandeur  and  significance. 
It  is  accomplished  in  the  interest  of  freedom,  religion,  peace,  and  all  the 
good  arts ;  and  its  benefits  will  be  the  common  heritage  of  the  race, 
which  in  every  age  has  owed  so  much  to  Italy. 

Pray  accept  my  most  cordial  wishes  for  the  success  of  the  meeting. 
Very  truly  yours, 

W.  D.  Howells. 


FROM  GEORGE  H.  CALVERT,  ESQ. 

Newport,  R.  I.,  January  3,  1871. 

Gentlemen  :  Gladly  I  accept  the  invitation  with  which  you  have 
honored  me  in  your  circular  of  December  21st. 

You  have  called  a  meeting  to  celebrate  one  of  the  most  momentous 
and  one  of  the  most  cheering  of  historical  events.  As  full  of  hope  as 
of  broad  significance  is  the  consummation  of  Italian  Unity  through  the 
establishment  of  Rome  as  the  political  capital.  Rome,  the  national 
centre  of  United  Italy  !  This,  then,  is  a  fact.  Rather  than  the  near 
truthful  report  of  history,  these  words  sound  like  the  distant  music  of 
a  dazzling  dream.  They  are  a  dream — a  dream  realized  ;  the  dream  of 
all  the  braver  hearts,  of  all  the  noble  heads  of  Italy  for  generations. 
The  daily  waking  dreams  of  cordial,  powerful  men  are  apt  to  turn  them- 
selves in  the  end  into  realities. 

Fitting  it  is  that  we,  who  to-day  lead  the  van  of  all  the  congregated 
nations,  and  have  leaped  into  this  lofty  seat  through  the  manly  vigor 
derived  from  freedom— fitting  it  is,  most  fitting,  that  we,  from  the 
magnificent  metropolis  of  our  country,  send   a  greeting  of  joy  and  of 


LETTERS. 


triumph  to  emancipated  [taly.  From  the  depths  of  our  hearts,  with 
all  the  strength  of  long-cherished  convictions,  we  congratulate  [taly 
that  she,  the  beautiful,  the  unfortunate,  has  arisen  out  of  her  deepest 
woes,  with  her  beauty  heightened  by  happiness  she  who  in  the  multi- 
tudinous procession,  the  grand  progression  of  history,has  herself  twice 
led  the  van,  has  been  twice  the  parental  core  whence  Bowed  to  all  civi- 
lized humanity  currents  of  creative  thought,  of  inventive  power. 

That  primary  form  of  freedom,  national  independence,  theprerequi- 
sit(  foundation  to  all  other  freedom, Ttahj  .  having  already  achieved  that, 
has  dow  made  another  stride  forward,  and  a  sure  stride  on  the  ascent 
to  spiritual  independence;  for  the  planting  of  herself  in  the  Eternal 
City  will,  more  than  could  any  other  outward  cause,  tend  to  the  eman- 
cipation of  her  men  and  her  women  from  their  long,  soul-darkening 
servitude  to  a  now  unspiritualized  and  a  self-worshipping  church,  a 
church  which   fattens    on    the    ignorance    of  men   and   starves   on    their 

knowledge. 

By  a  two-fold  subjection,  first  to  foreign  mastery  through  infernal 
dissensions,  and  then  to  household  mastery  through  priestcraft,  the 
moral  and  intellectual  forces  of  Italy  have  been  for  ages  paralyzed. 
Why  has  so  gifted  a  people  been  so  long  debarred  from  using  her  gifts? 

Is  it  thai  a  i pie.  especially  a  people  so  productive,  aeeds  long  rests? 

Let  as  believe  that,  bj  decree  of  providential  law,  Italy  has  been  rest- 
ing, and  that  now.  when  the  foremosl    nations  are  all  alert    in  the    chase 

of  knowledge,  intent  on  liberty-bracing  plans,  aglow  with  spiritual  aspi- 
ration, she  wakes  up,  a  giant  refreshed  by  sleep,  to  do  her  share  in  illu- 
minating the  upward  path.  Waked  up  she eertainlj  is,  ami  as  she  has 
given,  even  in  her  enthralled  state,  occasional  startling  signs  of  dormant 

power,  we  feel  sure  that  she  will  do  her  share  with  a  new  will,  and  in 
art    literature,  science,  and  polities  resume  a   place  akin  to  that   she  held 

four  eentnrie>  ago.  In  the  rich  heart  of  this  renowned  people  lie 
eternal  germs  of  human  truth  and  human  grandeur,  and  these  will  now 
!„•  quickened  into  growth— into  such  healthy,  prolific  growth  that 
Brutus,  and  Alfieri,  and  Cicero,  and   Michael  Ajngelo,  and   haute,  and 

(  JolumbuS,  and    VicO,  and  Galileo,  and  Savonarola       (what   a   compan\   !) 

^ill  f,.,.|   tin  Lr  mighty  souls  expand  in  their  blest  abodes,  and  their 

majestic  countenances  flash  with  patriotic  ecstasy,  as  their  vigilant 
spirits  shall  perceive,  in  the  near  future,  their  peers  arise  in  the  flesh 
to  purify,  to  embolden,  to  uplift,  to  enlarge  their  countrymen.  For 
enduring  good,  for  solid  improvement,  physical  and  intellectual,  and 
,  peciallj  moral,  there  is  in  free  thought  and  free  speech  a  potency 
which  is  incalculable,  incommensurable.  The  vast  arena  of  freedom 
[taly  has  now  opened  for  herself.  Hera  are  henceforth  the  strenuous 
Boul-strengthening   conflicts;    for,  a  certain  plane    of   free    vemenl 


78  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

once  reached,  and  the  energies  of  men  are  redoubled,  freedom  enjoying 
the  superlative  attribute  of  ever  straining  upward  towards  more  free- 
dom.    Most  respectfully  yours, 

George  H.  Calvert. 


FROM    FRANCIS   LIEBER,  LL.D.,    PROFESSOR   OF   CONSTITUTIONAL 
HISTORY  AND  PUBLIC  LAW  IN  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE,  N.  Y. 

New  York,  Jan.  10,  1871. 
Gentlemen  :  Indisposition  prevents  me  from  accepting  your  invita- 
tion, and  illness  alone  could  prevent  me  from  joining  you  at  the  joyous 
celebration  of  the  Italian  Unity  at  length  completed  after  many  centu- 
ries of  longing  and  of  grief.  How  many  and  how  bitter  are  the  centuries 
from  Dante  to  Cavour  !  But  how  few  the  years  from  Cavour  to  Koine's 
enfranchisement,  and  the  total  extinction  of  Italian  petty  sovereignty  !  In 
modern  public  law  and  for  modern  public  aspirations  petty  sovereignties 
have  always  proved  giant  miseries.  Now  Rome  belongs  to  Rome 
again,  and  Rome  and  Italy  are  for  the  first  time  one — free  and  equal. 
Whole  and  stately  Italy  may  enter,  not  crippled,  and  without  the  loss 
of  a  limb,  into  the  Sisterhood  of  Nations,  whose  sacred  aim  it  is  to 
preserve  a  dignified  nationality,  to  develop  further  and  further  manly 
self-government  and  self-restriction,  and  to  promote  more  and  more  in- 
ternational kindliness  and  the  free  exchange  of  thought  and  product. 

No  one  can  wish  joy  to  Italy  more  heartily  than  a  native  of  that 
country  which  at  this  hour  is  grandly  struggling  for  its  own  national 
life,  unity,  and  safety.  No  one  can  congratulate  the  Italians  more  pro- 
foundly than  a  citizen  of  this  country,  and  a  teacher  of  its  liberty,  who 
knows  how  much  we  owe  to  the  national  elements  in  our  constitution, 
and  the  unitary  features  of  our  national  executive  and  legislature.  None 
can  wish  more  heartily  joy  to  the  Italians  in  1870  than  we  Americans, 
who  concluded  our  long  and  sanguinary  contest  for  unity  in  1865. 

Let  us,  Americans,  whose  lands  and  continent  were  thrice  made 
known  to  our  Cis-Caucasian  race  by  Italian  discovery,  bid  earnest 
welcome  to  this  new  nation  of  historic  people,  to  whom  we  owe  the 
re-beginning  of  culture,  and  who  at  last  have  invited  the  Pope  to  stand 
aside,  that  Rome  might  fulfil  her  modern  destiny  and  become  the  na- 
tional Italian  Rome.  On  the  other  hand,  let  the  Italians  not  forget  that, 
indirectly  at  least,  they  owe  the  fulfilment  of  Italian  unity  to  the  hero- 
ism of  the  Germans,  bravely  defeating  those  who,  aiming  at  the  lead- 
ership, even  at  the  dictatorship  of  Europe,  and  wishing  for  the  same 
in  America,  love  to  see  their  neighbors  weak  and  marred — the  Italians 
no  less  so  than  the  Germans. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

Francis  Lieber. 


LETTERS.  79 

FROM  HENRY  C.   CAREY,  THE  POLITICAL  ECONOMIST. 

Philadelphia,  Jan.  K),  1871. 
Deab  Sir:   Until    now    I    have  hoped  to    acknowledge    in   person 

receipt  of  your  kind  invitation  to  participate  in  a  public  expression  of 
sympathy  with  the  Italian  people  upon  their  final  emancipation  from 
both  Austrian  and  French  control,  and  of  congratulation  on  the  ac- 
complishment of  that  union  so  long  and  anxiously  desired  by  emi- 
nent Italian  men,  as  the  measure  to  which  alone  could  they  look  for 
the  establishment  of  freedom  of  thought  and  action  for  themselves,  and 
of  material  and  political  independence  for  the  nation  at  large.  An 
unexpected  demand  upon  my  time  will  now,  however,  deprive  me  of 
that  pleasure,  and  1  can  in  this  manner  only  express  my  most  hearty 
concurrence  in  the   action  that  has  been  so    well  proposed,   remaining, 

very  truly  and  respectfully,  yours, 

Henry  C.  Carey. 


FROM  HON.  JAMES  W.  BEEKMAN,  LATE  SENATOR. 

New  York,  Jan.,  L871. 

My  DEAK  Sir:  My  heart  is  with' you  in  your  patriotic  desire  to 
celebrate  the  Unity  of  Italy.  The  occupation  of  Rome  as  the  capital 
of  the  new  Kingdom  is  just  and  fit. 

Ten  years  ago,  I  was  present  with  you  at  a  great  gathering  of  New 
Xorkers,  who  assembled  on  the  17th  February,  I860,  to  "give  timely 

expression  of  sympathy  from  the  people  of  the  Unite. 1  States  with    the 
people  of  Italy  in  their  struggles  and  hopes  for  freedom." 

WV  resolved,  among  other  things,  "  that  ecclesiastical  government 
in  secular  affairs  is  destructive  alike  of  freedom  of  conscience,  inde- 
pendence of  thought,  and  puiiu  of  religion,  and  that  the  advocacy  of 
such  a  government,  in  whatever  quarter,  should  be  disavowed  by 
American  citizens."  Among  the  speakers  were  General  (then  Profes 
sor)  <).  M.  Mitchell,  the  astronomer,  who  has  since  given  his  life  for 
bis  country.     God,  said   he,  never   formed    Italy  lor  slaves;  he  called 

upon  the    Italians  to  strike  for  freedom,  ami  prayed  God  to  grant    them 

success.     His  prayer  has  been  heard,  and  after  ten  Long  years   we  see 
Ltalj    \\>->-.     Tbe  chairman  quoted  the  words  of   the   Roman  Catholic 

Archbishop   of    New    York,   Hughes,  that   "Catholics,  as   such,  have    no 
politics      they  are  \'v>-  to   Note  on  all  occasions    as    each     man     chooses/" 

Rev.   Drs.  Bellows  and    Henrj    Ward    Beecher  spoke   for    Italy,   and 
Charles    Kin-,  Presidenl   of  Columbia  College  (no*  deceased),  warmly 

declared  thai  -'if  Italy  were  united  she  would  soon  he  free." 

I  rejoice  to  have  He-  privilege  of  being  presenl  at  the  celebration  of 
these  triumphs,  so  long  waited  for.     No  man  should   forget    thai    the 


80  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Csesarism  which  has  strangled  liberty  in  France,  has  been  imitated  at 
Rome.  The  recent  council  was  assembled  to  get  rid  of  Councils  in 
future,  and  in  establishing  Infallibility,  to  consecrate  by  the  sanctions 
of  religion  the  idea  of  imperial  rule.  The  empire  has  fallen  in 
France  ;  the  Syllabus  revives  it  at  Rome  over  the  entire  Catholic 
world. 

I  remember  attending  an  educational  convention  in  1 850,  and  that 
the  Catholic  members  complained  exceedingly  of  the  injustice  they 
suffered  in  being  suspected  of  illiberality.  The  doctrines  of  the  Sylla- 
bus were  then  regarded  by  Catholics  in  America  as  detestable,  and  the 
addresses  now  signed  in  every  Catholic  Church  would  have  been  indig- 
nantly spurned  by  the  fathers  of  the  very  men  who  now  adopt  them. 

The  present  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is,  that  the 
Roman  people  have  no  rights.  Against  this  I  hope  to  join  you  in  pro- 
testing. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

James  W.  Beekman. 


FROM  HENRY  JAMES,  ESQ. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Jan.  8,  1871. 

Sir  :  It  will  not  be  in  my  power  personally  to  attend  the  proposed 
meeting  in  New  York,  in  honor  of  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity  ; 
but  it  has  my  heartiest  good  wishes  for  its  success. 

I  confess,  however,  that  I  rejoice  in  the  event  you  celebrate  more  for 
its  universal  than  its  particular  bearings  :  or  because  it  so  effectually 
stigmatizes  the  pretension  of  any  visible  body  of  men  to  constitute  the 
church  of  God  and  authoritatively  control  the  religious  thought  and  life 
of  the  world.  The  Pope  was  the  only  formidable  ecclesiastic  in  Europe  : 
the  only  one  by  whom  the  interests  of  spiritual  religion  were  ever  seri- 
ously compromised.  And  now,  by  the  unification  of  Italy,  and  the  re- 
duction of  his  temporal  sway  to  a  level,  essentially,  with  that  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  religion  re-enters  into  the  domain  of  the  pri- 
vate conscience  universally,  or  becomes  publicly  divorced  from  sacer- 
dotalism and  identified  with  men's  familiar  interests.  No  doubt  some 
crazy  Presbyterian,  Episcopal,  or  Baptist  brother  may  always  be  found 
ready  to  calumniate  an  opponent  in  behalf  of  what  he  deems  "  the  faith." 
But  the  Pope  is  the  only  clergyman  in  Europe  who  believes  so  little  in 
the  power  of  "  the  faith  "  to  command  men's  spontaneous  respect,  as  to 
invoke  the  aid  of  mercenary  bayonets.  And  now,  thanks  be  to  God, 
no  more  bayonets  offer  themselves  to  his  invocation  ;  the  claim  of  '*  Di- 
vine right  "  being  henceforth  as  effectually  annulled  in  the  ecclesiastic 
sphere  as  it  has  long  been  in  the  civic. 

It  is   clear  that  no  man  has  a  divine  right  to  anything   he  does  not 


LETTERS.  M 

possess  01  anything  he  has  ever  lost.  For,  surely,  if  his  right  were 
di\  ine  in  either  case,  the  divine  power  would  never  prove  unwillingnor 
unable  both  to  gratify  his  cupidity  and  obviate  his  disappointment. 
There  is  no  semblance  of  divine  right,  indeed,  for  any  man.  or  anj 
body  of  men,  except  to  be  decent— that  is,  to  live  cleanly,  to  love 
mercy,  and  walk  humbly  before  God. 

And  nothing,  on  the  w  bole,  can  be  so  unbecoming  to  the  claimant  of  a 
divine  right,  and  so  utterly  fatal  to  his  respect  among  sensible  men,  as 
idly  to  shriek  over  the  inei  Ltable,  or  to  spend  hisdays  in  feebly  blasphe- 
ming the  benignant  Providence,  by  whose  irresistible  might  all  proud 
things  an-  being  so  rapidly  abased,  and  all  humble  things  exalted.      For 

now.  at    last,  the    voice   that   never  deceives     the    voi< f  the  Chief 

Shepherd  himself—is  becoming  spiritually  audible  in  the  universal  con- 
science of  men;  and  the  feeble  bow-wows  under  which  so  many  of  our 
drowsiest  sheep-dogs  have  been  so  long  trying  to  muffle  its  world-wide 
scope,  and  diminish  it  to  a  mere  ecclesiastical  whine,  signifying  nothing, 
will  have  no  more  power  to  defeat  its  majestic  reverberation  in  the 
heart  of  the  race  than  the  bleat  of  a  sheep  or  the  bray  of  a  donkey  has 
to  degrade  the  harmony  of  the  spheres,  ami  perplex  tin-  orderly  vicis- 
situdes of  nature. 

1  remain,  Sir,  with  much  respect, yours, 

Henry  J  ami  - 


FROM  PROFESSOR  GEORGE  I'.    FISHER 

Sale  College,  New  Eaven,  Jan.  LO,  1871. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Com.:  I  regret  that  my  engagements  arc  such 
as  ,,,  prevent  me  from  being  present  at  the  meeting  in  New  York 
which  has  been  called  to  express  the  sympathy  thai  is  generally  felt 
bv  the  American  people  in  the  occupation  of  Home  as  the  capital  of 
the  united  Italian  people. 

'II,,.  force  of   national   feeling    long    ago    threw    off   thai    Control    which 

the  Popes  had  exercised  in  the  political  ami  secular  concerns  of  the 
European  people,,,  and  the  pretensions  on  which  thai  control  rested 
u..n.  long  since  tacitly  abandoned.  The  unification  of  [talj  is  another 
manifestation  of  the  national  patriotic  feeling,  which  is  disposed  to  cou 
fine  ecclesiastical  rule  within  its  proper  boundaries,  and  which  tonus 
mi  essent  Lai  feat  ure  of  modern  «-i\  Lli/.at  ion. 

It  will  hardly  be  claimed  that  the  Pope  has  a  personal  proprietorship 
in  the  Roman  territory.     It  is  difficult  to  see  what  righl    ol  ui\ 

,-:,n  1 1  ■      i  up  in  his  behalf  which  can  stand  againsl  the  set  tied  di 

taction  of  his  subjects  with  priestlj  government,  the  i ious  mi 

thai    belong  to  it,  and  the  political   nece  rity  that  prompts  the   Italian 
nation  to  po  itself  of  its  ancient  capital. 


82  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

The  evils  of  the  temporal  government  in  reference  to  Italy  have  been 
set  forth  by  none  more  forcibly  than  by  Roman  Catholics,  like  M;i- 
chiavelli;  to  its  evil  consequences  to  the  Catholic  Church  itself,  his- 
tory— in  particular  the  history  of  the  age  of  the  Reformation — impres- 
sively testifies. 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

George  P.  Fisher. 


FROM  PROF.   ROSWELL  D.  HITCHCOCK,  D.D. 

Union  Theological  Seminary,  }_ 
New  York,  Jan.  5,  1871.       J 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  shall  have  to  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  address- 
ing that  great  mass  of  people  who,  I  am  sure,  will  crowd  the  Academy 
of  Music,  a  week  from  to-day,  to  cheer  on  the  good  work  of  Italian 
unification.  But  I  hope  to  be  there,  in  fullest  sympathy  with  the  object 
you  have  in  view. 

The  question  before  us  is  really  a  very  simple  one,  to  be  settled  by 
an  appeal  to  principles  with  respect  to  which  the  American  people  are 
well  agreed.  No  matter  what  may  be  thought  of  Pius  IX.  as  a  man, 
as  Pope,  or  as  potentate ;  and  no  matter  what  may  be  thought  of  the 
Church  over  which  he  presides, — its  rites,  its  dogmas,  or  its  historic 
errand.  The  Italian  peninsula  is,  as  Cod  made  it,  a  geographical  unit. 
The  Italian  people,  after  centuries  of  dismemberment,  are  now  once 
more  a  political  unit.  And  it  only  remains  to  bring  these  two  units  to- 
gether. The  Italians  must  have  Italy,  the  whole  of  it,  and  especially 
the  heart  of  it.  Italy  without  Rome  would  be  no  better  than  Greece 
without  Athens,  France  without  Paris,  Great  Britain  without  London, 
the  United  States  without  the  District  of  Columbia.  A  free,  strong 
nation  may  welcome  as  many  religions  and  as  many  churches  as  may 
choose  to  come  under  its  flag;  but  no  nation  permits  an  independent 
civil  authority  within  the  limits  of  its  jurisdiction.  As  mere  spiritual 
head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  Pope  might  set  his  chair 
where  he  pleases — in  Rome,  in  London,  or  in  Washington.  But  when 
he  lays  claim  to  temporal  sovereignty,  in  Italy  or  anywhere  else,  he 
proposes  an  imperium  in  imperio  which  no  nation  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  would  endure,  unless  compelled  to. 

As  temporal  sovereign,  the  Pope  has  historically  no  hold  on  Italian 
territory  outside  of  Rome,  at  least  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rome,  but 
by  right  of  conquest.  It  was  surely  by  no  vote  of  Italv  that  the  Ex- 
archate of  Ravenna  was  given  to  the  Pope.  Pepin,  a  foreigner,  had 
just  wrested  from  the  Lombards  what  he  made  over  in  755  to  Stephen 
III.  and  the  so-called  Republic  of  Rome.      If  it  be  claimed  that  Rome 


LETTERS. 

at  any  rate  became  Papal  territory  of  its  own  free  choice,  then,  of 
course,  i:  will  have  to  be  conceded  that  the  Roman  people  had  a  right 
to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  Victor  Emmanuel.  This  they  have  done. 
But.  even  had  there  hem  no  plebiscite,  the  annexation  of  Rome  to 
Italy,  if  annexation  it  may  be  called,  is  a  political  necessity  which 
justifies  itself.  England  once  had  a  good  foothold  in  France,  hut  lost 
it,  of  course,  just  as  soon  as  France  got  strength  enough  to  take  and 
hold  her  own.  As  temporal  sovereign,  the  Pope  must  Lnctir  all  tem- 
poral risks,  [f  he  accepts  what  force  has  won  for  him,  lie  must  be  pre- 
pared to  give  up  what  force  may  rend  away. 

But  we  are  told,  that  temporal  sovereignty  is  Indispensable  to  a  pro- 
per discharge  of  the  spiritual  functions  of  the  Papacy.     What.  the. 
shall   he   said  of  those  first   seven   hundred   years  during   which    the 
Bishops  of  Borne  had  no  temporal  sovereignty?     And  what    becomes 
of  the  solemn  declaration  of  the  divine  Founder  of  our  religion,  that 
his  "kingdom  is  not  of  this  world ? "     In  Rome,  under  the  old   Em- 
pire, eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  for  more  than  two  hundred  years 
thereafter,  the  Christian  church  asked  only  to  be  let  al She  de- 
sired no  temporal  dominion.     All  she  wanted  was  fullliberty  of  speech, 
and  full    liberty  of  worship.     Such   Liberty  is  not    merely    possibh    in 
Rome  to-day,  hut  is  expressly  guaranteed   by  the  Italian  Government. 
Whether  as  Bishop  of  Rome,  or  chief  Bishop  of  all  Latin  Christendom, 
Pope   Pius   IX.  has  no  one  to  molest  or  make  him  afraid.       In  the  exer- 
cise of  his  proper  spiritual  functions,  he  is  subject  to  ao  restraint  what- 
ever«       CTuder  these  altered  circumstances    there   is   ao  demand,  ami 
therefore  no  excuse,  fur  a  temporal  sovereignty    no  Longer  needed,  as 
'""•''  ■'  '"ay  have  been,  in  order  to  the  security  of  spiritual  rights,  and 
the  discharge  of  spiritual  duties.    And  if  the  Roman  Catholic  Churob 
wereaswiseas  it   once  was,  it  would   hasten  to  accommodate  itself  to 
the  new  order  of  things.    The  I',  pe  would  put  himself  promptly  at  the 
head  of  his  hundred  and  ninety-five  millions  of  Catholic  Christians,  as 
their  spiritual  father  and  champion,  and  so  pour  new  strength  into  a 
church  whose  career  hitherto  has  been  one  of  the  greatest    marvels  of 
hi  tory. 

11,11  whatever  the  Pope  may  do  or  not  do,  there  is  hut  one  path  for 
[talJ  '"  ";,lk  bn,  and  hut  one  word  for  us.  as  Americans,  to  utter  in 
ber  hearing.  She  must  crown  the  edifice  of  national  independence  and 
unity  h.N  returning  to  her  ancient  Capital;  she  must  establish  religious 
Liberty  for  Catholics  and  for  all  men;  and  we  must  shout  her  welcorai 
to  ill'   great  family  of  <  !hristian  States. 

yours   \er\    I,  ins, 

Rosw  iii    I  >.   Hitchcock, 
6 


84 


UNITY    OF    ITALY, 


FROM  FREDERICK  H.  HEDGE,  D.D.,  PROFESSOR  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY 

IN  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY. 

Cambridge^  Mass.,  Jan.  5,  1871. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Com.  :  It  is  with  deep  regret  that  I  find  my- 
self compelled  to  forego  the  satisfaction  of  attending  the  proposed 
meeting  in  New  York  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Italian  Unity.  My 
heart  will  be  there  with  its  warmest  sympathies. 

No  political  event  has  occurred  in  our  day  whose  bearing  on  the 
future  of  humanity  is  likely  to  prove  more  momentous  than  the  over- 
throw of  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  an  act  initi- 
ated by  United  Italy  reclaiming  her  ancient  capital,  and  consummated 
by  an  overwhelming  vote  of  the  Roman  people. 

For  more  than  six  centuries — nominally  for  a  much  longer  period, 
if  we  allow  the  claim  of  the  Carolingian  donations — the  Pontiff  of 
Rome  has  been  not  only  the  head  of  the  Latin  Church,  but  the  secular 
ruler  as  well  of  a  large  portion  of  Central  Italy.  The  "  Ecclesiastical 
State,"  as  determined  by  Innocent  in  the  beginning  of  the  Thirteenth 
century,  extending  from  sea  to  sea,  and  dividing  the  peninsula,  has, 
until  the  last  year,  prevented  the  consummation  of  the  movement,  in- 
augurated a  few  years  since,  of  Italian  Unity.  It  has  been  an  undis- 
solved lump  in  the  flood  of  a  new-born  national  life.  The  national  life 
has  at  length  prevailed  over  ecclesiastical  resistance ;  the  spiritual  and 
the  secular  are  relegated  each  to  their  respective  spheres,  and  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  is  no  longer  king. 

The  nearness  in  time,  the  almost  immediate  succession  of  this  event 
to  the  declaration  of  Papal  infallibility,  is  solemnly  significant.  On 
the  13th  of  July,  that  audacious  dogma  which,  however  it  may  be 
qualified  and  softened  to  appease  the  oppugnance  and  to  win  the  assent 
of  intelligent  minds,  to  the  multitude  of  ignorant  Romanists  means 
that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  is  the  special  confidant  of  Deity — that,  as  In- 
nocent III.,  at  a  time  when  Christendom  was  just  emerging  from  the 
shadow  of  the  dark  ages,  claimed,  he  is,  if  less  than  God,  yet  more  than 
man;  on  the  13th  of  July,  I  say,  that  dogma  was  proclaimed,  and 
on  the  15th  a  Avar  began  which,  by  taking  from  Rome  the  support  of 
French  bayonets,  permitted  the  entrance  of  Italian  patriots,  and  con- 
summated the  Papal  Catastrophe.  Within  two  months  of  the  time  of 
his  assuming  the  prerogative  of  God,  the  deluded  old  man,  like  another 
Nebuchadnezzar,  was  deprived  of  his  throne. 

When  twenty-four  years  ago,  on  the  death  of  Gregory  XVI.,  the  pres- 
ent incumbent  of  the  Papal  office,  then  Cardinal  Mastai  Ferretti,  re- 
ceived the  votes  of  the  electoral  college,  he  began  his  career  as  a  liber- 
al and  reformer.    An  immense  enthusiasm  attended  the  first  years  of  his 


LETTERS. 

administration.  The  repeal  of  every  oppression,  the  bestowal  of 
wished-for  freedom,  was  expected  from  his  reign.  In  1848,  when 
Europe,  from  North  to  South,  was  convulsed  with  revolution,  he  seemed 
for  a  while  to  embrace  the  popular  cause.  Eissubj.  cts  were  promised  a 
<  '.institutional  Government.  I  recall  the  demonstrations  of  popular  de- 
votion which  I  witnessed  in  Rome  hi  those  days  of  intense  expectation, 
••  waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  the  son  of  <  lod."  I  recall  the  shouts 
of  frantic  applause  which  greeted  the  Pontiff's  appearance  in  front  of 
the  Quirinal.  Through  twenty  thousand  voices  spoke  one  mind  and 
heart.  That  was  the  culminating  point  in  the  popularity  of  Pius  IX. 
A  change  soon  appeared  in  the  spirit  of  the  man.  and  a  corresponding 
change  in  his  policy.  Toward  the  close  of  that  year  we  find  him  a  fugi- 
tive and  an  exile,  escaping  in  disguise  from  his  capital  and  seeking  ref- 
uge in  the  neighboring  kingdom  of  Naples.  Restored  to  his  throne  and 
supported  by  foreign  arms,  the  next  tiling  we  hear  of  him  is  the  edict 
affirming  the  miraculous  conception  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,  an  absurdi- 
ty repudiated  centuries  ago  by  the  better  sense  of  the  Church.  And 
now.  to  consummate  the  reactionary  course,  and  to  crown  the  inglorious 
record  of  a  Christian  bishop  of  the  19th  century — now.  after  nearly 
2,000  vears  of  Christian  illumination,  the  heaven-daring  doctrine  of 
I'apal  Infallibility !     Surely,  the  time  was  ripe  for  wresting  the  sceptre 

of  Becular  rule  from  •  so  incompetent  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  time 

and  the  needs  of  mankind. 

Tie-  spiritual  subjects  of  the  Pope  raise  the  cry  of  foreign  invasion 
and  complain  of  spoliation.  Hut  the  people  of  the  Ecclesiastical  States 
are  Italians  l,\  choice  and  the  heart's  allegiance  as  well  as  by  race. 
They  encountered  no  foreign  foe,  hut  welcomed  their  compatriots  and 
brethren  in  the  armies  of  Italy  :  and  we  Americans  believe  in  the  right 
of  a  people-  to  choose  their  own  rulers;  we  believe  in  the  righl  ofre>  >- 
lutiou  when  needed  to  effectuate  thai  choice.  The  people  of  Rome  nave 
chosen.  I  can  see  no  peculiar  sanctity  in  the  claim  of  the  Pontiff  to 
temporal  rule  on  Italian  soil.  The  temporal  power  of  the  Popes,  \\  lien 
traced  to  its  origin,  is  ton  ml  to  be  based  in  part,  like  most  dynasties,  on 
forcible  seizure  and  partly  on  fraud.  Pretended  donations  of  <  ionstan- 
tine,  forged  "  Isidorian  Decretals,"  grants  by  Prankish  monarch t  of 
what  was  not  their  own,  the  questionable  gifts  of  a  Tuscan  Countess, 
an  imperial  testament  claimed  to  have  been  found  among  the  baggage  of 
a  German  soldier,  -these  constitute  no  indefeasible  right.  And  tic 
if  I  understand  it-  history,  are  the  '.'rounds  on  which  the  I'apal  boa 
eignty  rests. 

Inevitably  the  future  character  of  tin-  pontificate  will   l»-  essentially 
modified  by  this  event  :  and  any  change  which  that  office  maj  und<  i 
can  bardl)  fail  to  he  a  change  lor  the  better,  a  change  in  favor  of  truth 


86  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

and  progress.     The  anti- christian  tradition  of  hierarchical  rule  will  be 
found  to  have  received  a  decisive  check. 

Of  this  deserialization  of  the  papacy  Italy  reaps  the  timely  fruit. 
An  ancient  nation,  rich  in  immortal  memories,  rich  in  new-born  prom- 
ises, a  nation  which  once  led  the  van  of  social  and  intellectual  culture,  the 
nation  which  gave  to  this  continent  its  first  authentic  discoverer,  is  put 
in  possession  of  her  former  domain,  and  takes  the  place  which  belongs 
to  her  of  right  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  A  palingenesia  in  which 
the  friends  of  humanity  and  the  lovers  of  heroic  "virtue  the  world  over 
must  rejoice  !  We  of  this  hemisphere,  which  owes  to  her  its  historic 
existence,  send  greeting  and  congratulations  to  the  land  of  Columbus, 
of  Galileo,  of  Michel  Angelo,  and  Dan.te.  We  welcome  the  reappearing 
star  of  Italian  Unity,  which  vanished  with  Theodoric,  and  now  emerges 
at  last  from  its  more  than  millennial  eclipse.  May  the  golden  days 
of  that  potentate  return  to  the  nation  which  once  gave  laws  to  the 
world  !  Frederick  H.  Hedge. 


FEOM  GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS,  ESQ. 

Januarv  3,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  am  very  sorry  that  unavoidable  previous  engage- 
ments out  of  the  city  compel  me  to  decline  the  invitation  of  the  Com- 
mittee to  address  the  meeting  to  congratulate  Italy  Upon  the  completion 
of  Italian  Unity  and  the  emancipation  of  Rome. 

M.  Guizot  well  describes  the  Government  of  the  late  Papal  States  in 
saying"  that  it  was  "  more  intent  on  existing  than  acting,  more  skilful 
in  eluding  the  dangers  or  necessities  of  the  situation  than  in  satisfying 
them  ;  "  and  the  judgment  of  the  Romans  upon  that  Government  is  re- 
corded in  the  vote  of  virtual  unanimity  for  its  overthrow.  Nor  is  it 
easy  to  see  upon  what  grounds  of  public  welfare  or  human  progress  the 
continuance  of  a  political  system  was  desirable  under  which  one  of  the 
loveliest  regions  in  Europe  languished  in  unparalleled  ignorance  and 
wretchedness.  It  was  a  system  which  rested  upon  foreign  bayonets  and 
domestic  degradation.  It  was  a  constant  menace  to  the  independence 
of  Italy,  and  its  tranquil  removal  by  the  uninfluenced  action  of  the 
Italians  themselves  is  one  of  the  hajipiest  and  most  significant  events 
of  the  time.  It  is  a  peaceful  revolution  in  the  interest  of  constitutional 
liberty.  Nor  will  any  American  seriously  assert,  what  has  been  vaguely 
suggested,  that  any  man  whatever,  because  of  his  ecclesiastical  position 
and  relations,  has  a  divine  right  to  the  political  control  of  a  people 
against  their  expressed  will. 

And  in  this  happy  hour  let  us  noi  forget  the  brave  men  who  for  so 
long  a  time  and  in  so  many  ways  have  faithfully  served  the  great  cause 
of  Italian  unity  and  liberty.      Many  an  honored  citizen  of  our  own,  like 


LETTERS. 

Maroncelli  and  Foresti,  were  exiles  foi  their  patriotic  devotion.  There 
was  Cavour,  the  greatest  of  Italian  stat.-Mn.Mi,  to  whom  our  fellow-citi- 
zen, Mr.  Botta,  cherishing  the  traditions  of  his  nam.',  has  offered  so 
generous  a  tribute.     There  was    Massimo  d'Azeglio,  one   of  the  pm 

of  men.  There  is  Garibaldi,  whose  lit'.'  has  been  one  Long  act  of  roman- 
tic heroism,  the  best  beloved  of  Italian  soldiers.  There  is  Mazziui, 
with  whose  methods  Americans  have  so  often  differed,  but  with  whose 
hopes  and  aims  for  his  country  they  have  so  sincerely  sj  mpathized.     To 

Mazzini.  who,  sad  and  old,  almost  despaired  of  the  future,  and  to  all 
Italians  who  have  longed  for  this  day,  lei  us  say  :  " Italians,  we  are 
Americans  whose  ways  are  not  your  ways,  but  we  know  that  only  in 
the  tire  of  a  faith  like  yours  do  old  tyrannies  melt,  and  we  pray  God  to 
bless  all  whose  hearts  did  not  quail,  and  whose  lives  have  been  honor- 
ably devoted  to  the  unity  and  liberty  of   Italy.  ' 

But  the  event  is  more  than  Italian.  The  peaceful  overthrow  of  the 
political  Papacy  by  a  Roman  Catholic  people  is  the  sign  of  a  significant 
change  in  the  views  held  by  many  in  that  communion  of  the  relation 
between  Church  and  State.  It  is  the  harbinger  of  that  belter  day  of 
which  Cavour  dreamed,  when  every  Church  shall  be  a  free  Church  in  a 
tie.-  State  by  the  security  of  religious  freedom  to  every  citizen.  Italy, 
long  dear  to  the  scholar,  the  poet,  and  the  artist,  becomes  precious  to 
every  man  "who  believes  in  human  progress,  as  she  takes  her  place  in 
tic-  great  procession  of  nations  which  move,  united  and  victorious, 
toward  more  perfecl  liberty. 

Very  t  ruly  yours, 

(  rEORGE    WlLLIAM    <  !l  RTIS. 


FROM  BAYARD  TAYLOR,  ESQ. 
K  i:\nktt-s.  juare,  Penn.,  Saturday,  Jan.  7,  1871. 
_\h  Dead  Sir:  1  have  delayed  replying  to  your  note  until  now,  hop- 
ing that  I  mighf  be  able  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  completion  of 
Italian  Unity.  Since,  however,  that  will  not  be  possible,  lei  me,  at 
least,  express  my  most  hearty  and  unqualified  concurrence  iii  the  occa- 
sion, and  my  sympathy  with  the  Italian  people  in  their  long- delayed 
hour  of  success.  It  is  not  alone  the  gain  of  Italy  which  i>  commemo- 
rated, but  of  the  principles  of  nationality,  of  popular  rights,  of  human 
civilization.     Three  years  ago  I  had  frequenl  opporl  unitii  -  of  observing 

throughout  the  Italian    Peninsula,  ti Venice  to  Naples,  not   onlj  the 

strength  of  the  general  desire  for  unity,  but  also  tin'  courage,  patience, 

and   natural   good    sense  of    the   people.        I    thinly   believe    thai     th.y    will 

prove  themselves  to  he  worthy  of  their  new  .-i\il  and   religious  liberty, 


88  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

and  that  their  further  development,  under  these  brighter  auspices,  will 
not  disappoint  any  friend  of  Italy. 

As  one  whose  aspirations  have  always  included  a  free  and  Italian 
Rome,  I  share  in  the  joy  and  gratitude  of  the  liberated  Romans,  of  their 
brethren  from  the  Alps  to  the  farthest  cape  of  Sicily,  and  their  friends 
throughout  the  world.  Very  truly  yours, 

Bayard  Taylor. 


FROM  REV.  ORVILLE  DEWEY,  D.D. 

Sheffield,  Mass.,  January  2,  1871. 

(  Gentlemen  :  I  thank  you  for  inviting  me  to  be  present  at  the  Acade- 
my of  Music  on  the  12th  inst.  I  cannot  come  to  the  meeting;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  I  cannot  fail  to  expi-ess  my  hearty  interest  in  its  object. 
It  is  one  of  the  compensations  to  humanity  for  the  horrible  war  now 
raging  in  Europe,  that  it  has  given  unity  to  Italy,  and  the  possession 
of  her  own  rightful  capital. 

All  our  youthful  studies,  and  all  our  reading  in  later  life,  have 
united  to  create  an  almost  unequalled  interest  in  that  beautiful  coun- 
try. Italy  stands  alone  in  our  thoughts  as  the  theatre  of  the  grandest 
history  and  the  most  widespread  influence  upon  human  fortunes  that  the 
world  has  seen.  And  of  all  the  cities  in  the  world  Rome  alone  stands, 
even  in  her  decay,  as  "  the  Eternal  City,"  and  to  no  other  has  such 
universal  pilgrimage  been  made  from  every  land.  Who  can  refrain 
from  expressing  his  fervent  sympathy  with  the  rising  Italian  nation  ? 
May  the  day  soon  come  when  a  good  government,  and  a  people  resolute 
for  freedom  and  progress,  shall  revive  in  splendor,  if  not  in  breadth, 
the  glories  of  the  ancient  time  ! 

I  am,  gentlemen,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

Orville  Dewey. 


FROM  H.  T.  TUCKERMAN,  ESQ. 

New  York,  Thursday,  Jan.  5,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  regret  that  absence  from  the  city  will  deprive  me  of  the 
pleasure  of  uniting  with  you  in  the  American  celebration  of  Italian  Uni- 
ty. The  annexation  of  Rome  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy  is  but  the  logical 
and  natural  completion  of  the  national  independence  inaugurated  by  Ca- 
vour  ;  and  it  has  for  Americans  a  special  interest  as  consummating  that 
freedom  of  Church  and  State  wherein  consists  the  integrity  and  pros- 
perity of  both.  Every  thoughtful  observer  of  the  progress  of  humani- 
ty has  long  since  recognized  the  truth  that  Christianity  has  a  vital  ele- 
ment of  civilization  and  a  supreme  private  interest,  derives  its  sanc- 
tion from  spiritual  laws,  and  is  limited  and  debased  by  civil  restraints 


LETTERS. 


59 


and  conditions.  Moreover,  ii  lias  Long  been  obvious  thai  thedegrading 
despotism  of  the  Roman  government  has  been  a  scandal  bo  the  Church, 
anJ  hence  ii  is  apparenl  that  ecclesiasticism  only  hampers  and  perverts 
civil  authority,  while  the  latter  is  shorn  of  dignity  and  scope  by  being 
identified  with  priestly  rule.  In  the  interest,  therefore,  of  religion  as 
well  as  of  political  liberty,  the  severance  of  the  temporal  from  the  spir- 
itual power  of  th<-  Church  is  demanded  by  justice,  reason,  and  faith. 

That  this  great  event  should  have  been  accomplished  with  so  little 
violence,  and  that  the  mediaeval  despotism  which  so  incongruously 
interrupted  the  unity  of  Italy  should  have  been  so  promptly  and  peace- 
fully set  aside,  is  a  subject  of  congratulation  to  all  lovers  of  freedom 
and  all  who  respect  and  sympathize  with  the  rights  of  man  and  the 
cause  of  truth.  It  is  desirable  that  wo.  who  have  so  fully  tested  the 
Uessings  of  toleration,  and  experienced  to  so  large  an  extent  the  privi- 
leges of  a  free  Church  in  a  free  State,  should  express  to  our  brethren 
across  the  sea  our  earnest  gratitude  for  their  emancipation,  and  our  best 
wishes  for  their  national  progress  and  prosperity,  founded  on  constitu- 
tional liberty  and  law.  Truly  yours, 

Henry  T.  Tuckerman. 


FROM  CHARLES  ASTOR  BRISTED,  ESQ. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Friday,  Dee.  30,  L870. 
DearSir:  I  regret   that  the  state  of  my  health  and  my  engagements 
here  will  prevent  me  from  attending  your  meeting. 

Without  joining  unreservedly  in  the  popular  cry  for  nationalities.  I 
hold  it  a  self-evident  truth  that  when  the  formerly  component  parts  of 
a  great  country  wish  to  reunite,  they  should  he  allowed  to  do  so  with- 
out foreign  interference.  This  is  the  present  case  of  Italy,  an. I  every 
association   and   tradition   points   to   Home   as  the   capital    of  the  re. 

structed  nation. 

Not  altogether  unacquainted  with  Italy  and  the  Italians.  I  have 
often  thought  that  they  were  well  allegorized  in  Hawthorne's  romance 
— asuperficial  exterior,  boj  ish, animal  and  sensuous,a  .ureal  soul  within, 
requiring,  however,  a  greal  shock  and  crisis  to  develop  it.     This  crisis 

Italy  has  passed  through.     A.fter  ages  of  suffering,  a  series  of  fortunate 
events   has  delivered  he-  first    IVo.u  the  German  and  then    from   the 

French  incubus,  and  uow/iwd  da  se. 

I,    has  been  a  favorite  theory  vvith  men  of  Teutonic  origin  that   the 

Romance  races,  or   Latinized  Celts,  are  incapable  of  self-gover int. 

ItaK  has  now  an  opportunity  of  practically  refuting  iliis  tl J.     That 

she  maj  do  so  thoroughly  is  the  earnest  wish  and  hope  of  yours,  verj 

truly.  ,, 

Charles  A.stoh   Bristed. 


90  UNITY    OF   ITALY. 

FROM  CHARLES  L.  BRACE,  ESQ. 

New  York,  Jan.   11,   1871. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  No  meeting  that  could  be  held  on  matters  relating 
to  European  politics   should   interest  Americans  so  much,  as  this  pro- 
posed to  celebrate  Italian  Unity  and  the  Independence  of  Rome. 

Twenty  years  ago  I  travelled  in  Piedmont,  and  had  the  satisfaction 
to  call  the  attention  of  our  Government  and  of  the  public  to  the  re- 
markable political  development  showing  itself— to  many  of  our  people 
for  the  first  time — in  the  kingdom  of  Sardinia. 

Since  then,  we  have  all  noted  with  deep  sympathy  the  steady  pro- 
gress in  constitutional  government  made  in  that  kingdom.  We  have 
hailed  with  joy  the  providential  events  which  placed  first  North  Italy 
and  then  Southern  Italy  under  the  guidance  of  the  most  liberal  and 
energetic  portion  of  the  Peninsula,  and  finally  have  made  Italy,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Rome,  a  united  kingdom  under  a  Parliament 
and  a  Constitutional  Monarch. 

We  hoped  also,  with  the  Italian  race,  for  the  clay  when  the  "  capital  of 
two  civilizations  " — the  ancient  centre  and  leader  of  Italy,  a  city  which 
by  its  law,  its  religion,  and  art  has  stamped  itself  more  deeply  on 
civilized  nations  than  any  other  city  in  the  history  of  the  world— might 
at  length  be  the  capital  of  a  united  and  free  Italy. 

The  happy  event  at  length  came  ;  and  Victor  Emmanuel  has  the 
honor  to  be  used  by  Providence  in  accomplishing  that  which 
neither  Constantine,  nor  Alboin,  nor  Charlemagne,  nor  Barbarossa,  nor 
Charles  V.  was  ever  able  to  effect — to  unite  Italy  under  one  adminis- 
tration and  government — and  that  a  government  by  law  and  con- 
stitution. 

For  the  first  time  in  nearly  eighteen  hundred  years,  Italy  is  One  ; 
and  for  the  first  time  in  all  its  history,  it  has  no  slave  and  no  tyrant, 
whether  he  be  called  Tribune,  Consul,  Dictator,  Imperator  or  King. 
For  such  a  grand  event,  Americans  have  reason  to  join  .with  Italians 
in  solemn  and  grateful  celebration. 

Believe  me,  with  much  respect,  yours,  etc. 

Charles   L.  Brace. 


FROM  REV.  CHARLES  T.  BROOKS. 

Newport,  R.  I.,  January  17,  1871. 
My  Dear  Friend  :  The  invitation  with  which  your  Committee  hon- 
ored me  found  me  just  leaving  home  for  a  fortnight's  absence,  and  on 
my  return  I  found  that  I  had  laid  away  the  circular  so  carefully,  I 
could  not  put  my  hand  upon  it  so  as  to  get  the  address,  till  I  thought 
it  too  late  to  answer  it ; — which,  I  see,  might  make  it  appear  as  if  I 


LETTERS.  9] 

disregarded  a  reasonable  request,  and, more  than  that,  were  wantine  in 
devotion  to  that  cause  of  Liberty  and  of  Italy  which,  as  a  scholar,  a 
freeman,  and  once  a  pilgrim  in  thai   memorable  land,  1  have  so  deeply 

at  lit  art. 

And  so  I  hasten  now  t.»  say.  what  joy  ii  w.mM  have  given  me  to  be 
at  your  gathering,  which  my  uo1  being  able  to  do  was  only  my  loss, 
and  not  yours,  or  [taly's,  or  Liberty's;  and  also  to  say  with  what  a 
peculiar  thrill  of  joy  I  hailed,  in  common  with  your  exiled  country- 
men, and  all  true  Italian-  and  true  Americans,  the  news  of  the  wonder- 
ful Providence  by  which,  so  suddenly  and  quickly,  the  wind  which, 
alas!  blew  such  ill  to  another  nation— such  malignant  seeds  of  death 
and  misery — had  blown  such  a  blessing  to  yours,  bearing  on  its  wings 
the  breath  of  freedom,  and  opening  in  the  clouds  such  an  unprece- 
dented gleam  of  hope.  I  felt  how  the  electric  wire  that  stretches 
across  that  great  burial-field  of  the  Campagna  must,  of  its,. if  almost, 
thrill  to  the  heart  of  the  Old  City  the  sympathies  of  all  the  free  world. 
T  could  dream  that  the  dust  of  the  long-mouldered  forms  of  old  heroes 
and  saints  and  sages  rose  and  reshaped  itself  into  a  cloud  of  rejoicing 
witnesses  and.  sympathizing  spectators  and  fellow-actors  in  the  drama 
of  the  new  time. 

What  a  sensation  it  must  be  to  find  ourselves  in  Rorm  reading  the 
morning  newspaper !  How  must  the  fluttering  of  those  fresh  sheets 
seem  like  the  fanning  of  the  very  morning's  wings  to  those  who  had 
hitherto  lived  a  seeming  or  semi-life  in  a  prison  hermetically  sealed 
against  the  influx  of  the  fresh  and  free  air  of  human  thought,  inquiry, 
and  intercommunication.  I  reflect  what  would  be  our  condition  if 
all  at  one,-  the  omnipresence  of  a  free  press  were  mad.'  a  blank  ! 
I  well  remember  the  singular  shock  I  received  when,  having  a  few  years 
ago  been  called  on  to  furnish  a  toast  in  Home  for  the  American  din- 
ner on  Washington's  birthday,  and  having  innocentlj  sent  in  some- 
thing about  "  [talj  and  America,"  I  hail    it    retur I    upon   me,  with 

the  information  that  that  would  never  </<>,  that  the  vers  namine  of 
Italy  in  such  connection  would  he  unpardonable.  It  ma\  seem 
strange — but  the  thought  had  not  entered  my  head  of  the  glorious 
memory  of  [taly  having  any  dangerous  meaning  -for  ii<»  adopt  By- 
ron's words) — 

'•  Standing  on  Hut  Etonian's  grave, 

I  could  not,  deem  myself  a  slave." 

Sorrow   indeed   musl    mingle  with    the  j 03  of  the   free   men   of   haU 
when,  as  they  look    upon    their   brethren  in  the   hamlets  and  cities  of 
'•''•'nee,  fchey  have   to  say,  "  Wba1    was  death   to  you    is  life  to  us." 
Bui  lei  us  hope  thai   oul  of  all   that  darkness  an. I  death  will  come,  in 

tie-   Providence  of  God,  the  morning  lighl   of   a   ness    and    nobler    future 


92  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

to  the  life  of  the  nations  that  name  the  name  of  Christ.     In  which 
hope, 

I  remain  yours  and  the  Committee's, 

Charles  T.  Brooks. 


FROM  JUSTIN  M'CARTHY,  ESQ. 

New  York,  January  7,  1871. 
Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  :  1  much  regret  that  absence  from 
New  York  will  prevent  my  attending  the  meeting  to  celebrate  the 
completion  of  Italian  Unity,  for  which  I  have  received  an  invitation 
through  my  friend,  Professor  Botta.  I  rejoice  that  the  people  of  New 
York  are  about  to  have  an  opportunity  of  testifying  their  sympathy  with 
the  Italian  people,  and  of  congratulating  civilized  Europe  on  the  sud- 
den and  splendid  realization  of  a  hope  so  long  deferred.  The  great  Eng- 
lish orator,  Charles  James  Fox,  declared  the  destruction  of  the  Bastille 
to  be  the  grandest  event  by  far  that  had  occurred  in  the  history  of 
modern  Europe.  But  surely  our  time  has  seen  a  much  grander  event 
in  the  accomplishment  of  Italian  Unity.  For  this  event  has  two  mean- 
ings— it  means  not  merely  that  Italy  is  free,  but  that  the  reign  of  ec- 
clesiastical rule  in  political  affairs  is  at  an  end.  All  history  teaches  that 
the  rule,  of  Church  over  State  is  demoralizing  to  the  Church  and  disas- 
trous to  the  State.  No  nation  ever  exemplified  this  truth  so  strikingly 
and  sadly  as  Italy  was  compelled  to  do.  That  the  fatal  error  has  at  last 
been  set  right  in  that  land  and  by  that  people  so  long  believed  to  be 
doomed  without  hope  to  perpetuate  it  and  to  surfer  by  it,  seems  to  be 
the  most  encouraging  event  that  has  happened  in  Europe  during  our 
time — I  might  almost  say  at  any  time — and  one  over  which  all  classes 
and  sects  of  men  may  equally  rejoice. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  faithfully  yours,  Justin  McCarthy. 


FROM  REV.  W.  H.  FURNESS,  D.D. 

Philadelphia,  Jan.  12,  1871. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  While  with  all  the  world  I  recognize  Italian  Unity 
now  accomplished  as  by  no  means  the  least  of  the  illustrations  of  this 
grand  historic  period,  I  have  no  special  word  to  say  about  it  beyond 
congratulating  you  and  your  countrymen,  as  I  do  most  heartily,  upon  a 
consummation  so  full  of  promise.  The  balance  of  power,  destroyed  by 
the  fall  of  France, — will  it  not  be  restored  in  a  far  nobler  than  any  po- 
litical sense  by  the  rise  of  Rome  ?  Yours  truly, 

W.  H.  Furness. 


Ill  I  I  R8. 

FROM  REV.   SAMUEL  OSGOOD,  D.D. 

\i\\    Fork,  Jan.  I  I.  1871. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Committee:  With  great  interest  in  the  meeting 
of  the  friends  of  Italian  Unity  to-morrow,  I  comply  with  your  request, 
and  write  a  few  thoughts  on  the  relations  of  Rome  and  Italy. 

These  names,  thai  have  heretofore  seemed  the  very  antipodes  of  each, 
and  offered  only  points  of  contrast  in  resped  to  history,  institutions, 
ideas,  and  destiny,  are  now  coming  together  in  a  remarkable  way,  and  the 
future  of  tlir  city  of  the  Ctesars  is  apparently  very  much  in  tin-  hands 
of  the  countrymen  of  Washington.  The  causes  that  arc  bringing  about 
this  resuU  are  partly  general,  and  growing  out  of  the  general  relations 
between  Europi  and  America,  and  partly  peculiar,  on  account  of  the 
presenl  attitude  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  in  this  country  ami  in  Koine 

It  is  as  remarkable  as  it  is  evident  that  at  this  time,  when  America  is 
at  peace  with  the  whole  world,  and  quite  committed  to  her  doctrine  of 
non-interference  with  the  affairs  of  other  nations,  she  is  virtually  con- 
sulted on  all  important  questions  by  every  great  power  in  Europe;  and 
public  opinion  here  is  actually  intervening  in  all  the  conflicts  of  Chris- 
tendom, and.  in  fact,  having  a  great  deal  to  do  with  what  is  going  on 
over  the  whole  earth.  Every  intelligent  reader  knows  how  anxiouslj 
England  watches  the  signs  of  the  times  here,  and  that  her  statesmen 
and  people  at  large,  with  all  their  undoubted  pluck,  are  very  earnest 
to  sec  the  Alabama  question  settled  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  that  a 
President's  message  or  a  leading  senator's  speech  sometimes  makes  far 
more  excitement  there  than  here.  Stovit  King  William  and  cool 
Count  Bismarck  have  confessed,  in  deeds  as  well  as  words,  that  Amer- 
ican opinion  is  a  power  in  the  present  terrible  war,  while  France  has 
almost  implored  as  to  have  compassion  upon  her  wretchedness,  and 
give  our  sympathy  and  judgment,  as  well  as  money  ami  arms  to  her 
defence.  Russia  has  for  years  claimt  d  our  republic  as  her  neighbor  on 
the  northern  frontier  and  ally,  while  Italy  is  evidently  concerned  at 
the  endeavor  to  enlist  American  sentiment  in  behalf  of  the  Pope's  tem- 
poral power,  and  eager  to  have  some  demonstration  on  the  other  Bide. 

Our  people  are  becoming  aware  of  their  growing  influence  abroad, 
audit  is  often  amusing  to  hear  what  grand  subjects  verj  plain  people 
are  discussing  in  railroad  cars  and  wmntry  stores,  in  markets  and  eat 
ing-houses,  where  a  listener,  without  being  an  eaves-dropper,  ma\  know 
what  is  -aid  around  him.  At  present,  perhaps,  the  Pope  is  the  most 
prominent  subject,  ami  it  is  quite  amusing  to  find  so  manj  persons  of 
all  conditions  suggest  pleasantly,  yet  not  wholly  jocosely,  that  His 
Holiness  had  better  come  over  here  and  live  among  us,  where  uobodj 

Wollld    disturb     him    so    Ion-     ftS    he    let    Other     people    alone,    and    where     he 

might  weai  all  his  finest  jewels  and  clothes  with  as  much  im] ity  as 


94:  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

the  Grand  Master  of  the  Free-Masons.  We  are  so  much  accustomed 
to  religious  liberty  and  the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  that  we 
little  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  the  Pope's  position,  and  are  tempted  to 
make  light  of  the  serious  troubles  that  do  undoubtedly  surround  the  old 
Pontiff,  and  make  his  course  a  very  perplexing  one  to  himself  and  his 
most  sagacious  advisers.  Yet  our  people  are  inclined  to  be  very  fair  to- 
wards all  nations  and  all  men,  and,  perhaps,  what  is  most  of  all  needed 
now  in  regard  to  the  Roman  question  is  a  fair  understanding  of  the 
facts  of  the  case.  A  few  words  with  this  bearing  may  not  be  useless, 
now  that  Victor  Emmanuel  has  been  to  Rome,  and  been  received  by 
acclamation  at  the  famous  Quirinal  Palace,  whose  saintly  portraits  and 
scenes  suggest  startling  lessons  to  royal  guests. 

The  Roman  Church  appears  to  look  with  eager  and  almost  confiding 
eye  to  our  American  opinion,  and  to  claim  our  great  republic  as  the 
champion  of  her  fallen  temporal  power.  This  is  no  new  temper  on 
her  part,  for  Rome  has  been,  since  the  departure  of  Constantine 
from  Italy  for  Byzantium,  very  much  a  foreign  element  in  Italy, 
and  has  looked  abroad  for  defenders.  Her  priesthood  were  regarded  by 
him  and  his  successors  as  safer  rulers  of  the  old  capital  than  more 
military  and  secular  lords ;  and  when  the  Eastern  Empire  was 
severed  from  the  Western,  the  Roman  clergy  set  their  hopes  upon  the 
new  Germanic  Empire,  and  Charlemagne  took  the  place  of  Clovis  as  de- 
fender of  the  faith.  The  office  has  been  tossed  about  from  hand  to 
hand  in  our  stormy  and  changing  modern  times,  and  Louis  Napoleon 
was  the  last  incumbent.  Now  the  same  rough  German  foot  that  has 
kicked  away  the  underpinning  of  his  .imperial  platform  has  upset  the 
Pope's  temporal  throne  ;  and  the  two  actors  who  were  trying  to  revive 
the  parts  of  Charlemagne  and  Hildebrand  have  tumbled  from  the  stage 
together.  The  question  now  is,  Who  shall  help  the  Pope  up  and  make 
him  one  of  the  kings  of  this  world  again  ?  King  William  is  nominated 
for  the  post,  and  it  is  said  that  the  Pope  will  crown  him  Emperor  of 
Germany  if  he  will  treat  the  Pope  after  the  manner  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire  of  old.  But  more  hope  is  entertained  of  the  good- will  of  Amer- 
ica ;  and  probably  more  money,  and  perhaps  men,  could  be  raised 
among  Roman  Catholics  here  for  the  purpose  of  reinstating  the  Pope 
than  in  Italy,  Spain,  Austria,  or  any  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  Per- 
haps, if  we  had  a  king  who  wished  to  make  capital  out  of  the  zeal  of  h 
sect,  or  if  some  of  our  wire-pulling  demagogues  dared  to  do  what  they 
wish,  there  might  be  a  proposition  to  lend  the  credit  and  power  of  the 
nation  to  the  Papal  cause.  But  there  is  no  probability  of  any  such 
effort,  and  the  overwhelming  majority  Of  our  people,  and  the  whole 
drift  of  opinion  here,  are  setting  in  the  other  direction.  Our  America 
is  quietly  forming  her  convictions  of  the  case  before  hei*,  and  preparing 


LETTERS.  95 

to  say  her  mighty  word  on  the  situation.  Our  people  are  passing 
judgment  upon  the  strange  development  < >t"  tin-  ultramontane  spirit  here 
in  its  assault  upon  our  school  system,  and  its  attempt  to  introduce  the 
priestrj  power  into  politics,  and  to  give  to  an  exclusive  church  and  its 
wily  coadjutors  the  prestige  of  a  foreign  court  and  throne.  It  is  no 
secret  that  tins  disposition  is  winning  condemnation  from  not  a  few 
nominal  supporters,  and  we  have  the  elements  of  a  significant  move- 
ment among  American  Catholics  in  opposition  to  the  ultramontane 
extravagance  and  assumption. 

It  is  r\  i dmi  that  the  present  issue  bet  ween  the  King  of  Italy  and  the 
Pope  is  uot  a  new  onej  but  merely  a  part  of  the  old  issue  of  1861,  when 
so  large  a  portion  of  the  Papal  States  was  annexed  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Italy.      The  Pope  lias  never,  indeed,  acquiesced  in  this  annexation,  and 

the    R an  Catholic  Church  organs  everywhere  claim  all  of  the  old 

Papal  territory  as  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter  by  right  of  a  thousand 
years'  possession.  The  question  between  the  King  and  the  Pope, 
therefore,  becomes  a  part  of  the  history  of  modern  tunes,  which  turns 
upon  the  rise  of  new  nationalities  upon  the  domain  of  the  old  mediaeval 
dynasties.  In  one  sense  the  Italian  King  has  been  more  Liberal  to  his 
new  provinces  than  other  monarchs  have  been,  for  he  lias  consulted  tin- 
people  themselves  as  to  their  desire,  ami  there  seems  tu  be  no  doubt 
that  the  provinces  annexed  in  L861  followed  their  own  decided  choice — 
a  choice  that  was  not  offered  by  Russia,  Prussia,  France  or  England,  to 
the  territories  and  people  that  these  powers  once  absorbed  into  their 
rising  national  life.  So  [taly  is  simplj  following  the  spirit  of  modern 
history,  in  gathering  her  people  together  under  one  language,  name, 
country,  law, and  association.  Her  nationality  si s  to  be  a  fad  ac- 
complished, and  besides  the  ancient  association,  and  the  honor  that  lie- 
longs  to  the  united  nation,  the  new  powers  of  business  and  finance  greatlj 
strengthen  the  nationalities.  A  traveller  is  struct  with  the  facl  of  the 
rise  of  commercial  idea.-,  and  the  prevalent  com  id  ion  among  an  impor- 
tant class  of  the  common  | pie  of  tin-  superioritj  of  industry  to  the 

old  rule  of  beggary,  and  the  remarkable  interesl  in  all  books  and 
schools  that  give  instruction  in  the  industrial  arts  and  sciences.  No 
man  can  go  through  Europe,  with  his  eyes  open,  without  seeing  thai 
business  is  becomings  great  nationalizing  power  everywhere ;  thai  it  is 

not   merely  the  German  na ,  bul   German  business,  thai   is  bringing 

the  old  <  rermanie  empire  back  t<>  life,  under  leaders  w  bo  are  great  mer- 
chants  a-  well  as  great   statesmen  and  soldiers;  thai  the  Italian-,  ion. 
are  determined   to  do  business  together  <>n   their  magnificent  domain, 
and  thai  commercial  powei  as  well  as  national  pride  rolls  on  to  victory 
upon   their  wonderful   chain  of  railroads,  which, in   some  respects,  are 

remarkable  as  am  in  -Christendom.     The  con srcial  spirit  in  [talj 


96  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

is  at  strife  with  the  mendicant  spirit,  and  in  too  many  cases  mendi- 
cancy and  the  church  representatives  are  very  nfueh  the  same  thing. 
Rome  itself  is  a  nest  of  beggars,  and  the  odor  that  attaches  to  them  is 
not  the  odor  of  sanctity. 

Now  it  is  clear  that  the  question  between  the  Pope  and  the  King  of 
Italy,  is  a  part  of  the  question  of  the  development  of  Italian  nation- 
ality and  as  such  it  is  in  a  great  degree  a  local  matter,  with  which 
we,  as  a  nation,  have  little  to  do.  It  belongs  to  the  politics  of  Italy, 
for  as  temporal  prince  the  Pope  is  like  any  other  prince,  and  is  to  look 
out  for  his  own  affairs.  Of  course  we,  as  Americans,  cannot  help 
having  an  opinion  of  our  own  upon  the  subject,  and  so  far  as  the 
Italians  are  carrying  out  the  natural  development  of  their  race  and  do- 
main, our  sympathies  must  be  with  them.  We  cannot  bui,  see  that 
Rome,  under  the  Pope  as  King,  is  not  oidy  a  kingdom  within  their 
national  kingdom,  but  that  it  is  a  foreign  kingdom,  not  by  any  means 
independent,  but  wholly  dependent  upon  foreign  arms,  whether  of 
Austria,  or  Spain,  or  France.  The  United  States  could  not  for  an  in- 
stant allow  such  a  foreign  power  to  intrench  itself  within  our  territory, 
and  if  Brigham  Young,  or  any  other  religionist,  good  or  bad,  should 
bring  a  squad  of  foreign  troops  to  his  support  against  our  flag,  chat 
moment  the  whole  nation  would  turn  upon  him,  and  tread  his  power, 
and  perhaps  himself,  under  foot. 

Of  course  the  American  people  know  very  well  that  the  Pope  claims 
his  temporal  power  under  spiritual  sanction,  and  professes  to  rule  in 
the  name  of  God,  and  as  the  vicar  of  Christ.  My  impression  is  that 
our  people  on  the  whole  have  no  disposition  to  interfere  with  this 
purely  spiritual  power;  we  are  willing  to  leave  him  to  settle  that 
matter  with  his  own  followers.  The  political  question  is  between  Ital- 
ians, and  the  religious  question  is  between  Roman  Catholics.  As 
Americans  we  cannot  take  the  Roman  Catholic  position — that  tempo- 
ral power  belongs  essentially  to  the  Pope,  as  such,  or  to  any  other 
Christian  minister ;  and  our  Roman  Catholic  neighbors  must  not  ex- 
pect us  to  take  their  stand  on  this  subject.  They  may,  indeed,  expect 
all  fair-minded  Americans  to  protest  against  bigotry  and  oppression 
of  every  kind,  and  to  wish  to  see  justice  done  to  all  religions  and  their 
representatives.  We  need  not  spend  many  words  in  proving  that,  as 
Americans,  we  have  no  idea  of  engaging  in  any  anti-papal  war,  either  of 
arms  or  of  words,  and  our  American  principle  is  to  give  full  liberty  of 
opinion  to  all  churches  and  sects.  It  is  evident  that  of  late  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  has  not  been  winning  new  favor  among  us,  and  visi- 
ble censure  lias  fallen  upon  all  Protestant  Churchmen  who  give  signs 
of  facing  towards  Romish  ways;  yet  it  is  quite  as  clear  that  there  is  no 
great  disposition  to   assail  Roman  Catholics,  either  with  clubs  or  with 


1. 1-1  I  I  RS. 


curses,  and  that  they  are  taking  their  place  with  the  other  branches  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  America. 

In  whatever  sympathy  we  choose  to  give  to  the  Italian  people  in 
their  struggle  for  unity,  and  their  desire  to  win  to  their  union  the  onlj 
city  whose  name  unites  all  sections  by  its  history  and  promise,  we  ma\ 
a>  well  distinctly  show  that  we  do  not  believe  in  persecuting  the  Pope 
and  his  priesthood  for  their  religious  opinions,  and  perhaps  we  had 
better  let  all  hard  names  alone.  The  recenl  extreme  position  of  the 
Vatican  can  be  controverted  well  enough  without  dooming  the  whole 
Romish  church  to  perdition,  and  the  denial  of  the  Christian  name  to 
Roman  <  latholics  is  precisely  the  course  that  their  leaders  desire,  as  like- 
ly most  to  provoke  resentment  and  to  contradict  the  most  obvious  les- 
sons of  church  history.  Archbishop  Manning  expressed  to  me  his  greal 
satisfaction  at  the  rancor  that  called  his  Church  Anti-christ,  and  thought 
all  who  were  not  Roman  Catholics  were  hound  to  call  Home  Anti-<  Ihrist. 
A  high  official  of  the  Jesuits  in  Rome  expressed  to  me  the  same  opinion, 
and  was  unwilling  to  allow  that  there  could  be  different  branches  of  the 
church,  more  or  less  pure.  We  see  at  once  the  shrewdness  of  this  \  iew  . 
for  if  a  man  calls  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  Antichrist,  he  must  be 
much  puzzled  what  to  do  with  the  history  of  Western  Christendom  for 
a  thousand  years,  and  he  finds  himself  at  last  playing  into  the  hands  of 
the  ultramontane  party,  by  accepting  the  Roman  Church  as  within 
Christendom,  with  risk  of  accepting  its  exclusiveness.  Our  American 
principles  of  toleration  lead  us  rather  to  look  upon  Rome  as  the  old 
centre  of  Latin  <  hristendom,  ami  to  regard  the  Pope  as  head  bishop  or 
patriarch  of  the  Latin  churches  and  of  all  who  adopt  the  Latin  rite  and 
rule,  and  to  make  us  wish  to  have  him  to  do  his  lest  for  the  people  under 
his  charge.  Any  other  course  forces  us  to  choose  between  the  two 
horns  ofabad   dilemma,  and   either   to   say  that    the  Pope    is  Christ's 

only  representative  0,1  earth,  which  we  cannot  do;  or  that  he  is  Anti- 
christ—  indeed,  the  \,-\-y  Satan  —  which  we  cannot  do. 

Italy  especially  needs  his  care,  and  candid  travellers  generally  \\<\ 

that    the   Pope    has    lost    much    influence    there    bj    mixing    tip    so    main 

political  feuds  with  religion.  If  Pius  IX.  had  begun  his  career  of 
reform  as  a  liberal  Pope,  ami  left  the  sceptre  of  civil  affairs  to  compe- 
tent civic  powers,  his  earlj  career  might  not  have  been  so  sadl)  in 
contrast  with  his  later  doings, and  the  dreams  of  his  vonih  illicit  have 
been  fulfilled  by  the  labors  and  fruits  of  his  old  age.      Bui  take  him  as 

he    i   .  lie-   American  people  do   not    wish   ill    to  him  or  desire  to  see  him 

trampled  upon.     Strip  him  ol   the  sceptre  and  crow  u,  and  he  is  still  the 
pastor  of  the  largest  organized  bodj  of  professed  Christians  on  earth; 
aid  our  respeel  for  our  fellow-citizens,  the  millions  of  Roman  <  latholi 
in   America,  should   move  us  bo  desire   to  have  their  feelings  towards 


98  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

their  venerable  bishop  respected  in  every  reasonable  way.  We  desire 
to  have  all  religious  edifices,  institutions,  and  works  of  art  sacredly  pro- 
tected against  robbery  or  perversion,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  see  the 
Pope  and  his  clergy  more  earnest  and  effectual  in  rebuking  the  vices 
and  sins  of  the  Italian  court  and  people,  when  more  purely  spiritual 
relations  are  established,  and  Christian  influences  take  the  place  of 
French  guns  and  Papal  dungeons.  Surely  no  man  who  has  seen  the 
charities  of  Europe  in  hospitals  and  on  the  battle-fields,  or  read  the 
devout  literature  of  Christendom  in  our  day,  will  deny  to  the  Latin 
Church  its  place  and  work  within  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  family 
of  men. 

It  seemed  to  me  very  strange,  a  little  over  a  year  ago,  that  the 
Italians,  especially  the  intelligent  men  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
common  people,  had  so  much  hostility  to  the  Pope  and  his  priesthood, 
whilst  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  itself  had  so  much  respect  and 
affection,  so  much  more  regard  surely  than  any  other  faith  and  worship. 
In  Florence  and  Milan  caricatures  were  seen  in  the  stalls  and  shop- 
windows  such  as  would  not  be  issued  in  America  against  any  religious 
body,  and  siirely  would  not  be  tolerated  in  New  York.  A  professor 
of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome  told  me  that  the  lawyers  ami  physicians  of 
Italy  generally  were  against  the  Church;  a  fact  strongly  in  contrast 
with  the  state  of  things  in  England,  where  those  professions  are  so  gene- 
rally good  friends  of  the  Church.  The  cause  of  the  opposition  is  undoubt- 
edly partly  on  grounds  of  free-thought,  but  more  on  account  of  disgust  at 
( ifl'ensive  temporal  power.  The  Pope  himself  seemed  to  me  to  be  person- 
ally very  popular  in  Rome  as  the  pastoral  head  of  his  church,  and  able  to 
exercise  greater  influence  as  such  than  as  a  temporal  king.  My  impres- 
sion was  that  the  people  of  Rome  wished  him  well,  and  did  not  desire 
any  revolutionary  agitations  against  him,  and  probably  on  that  very 
account  more  readily  acquiesced  in  the  union  of  Rome  with  the  consti- 
tutional kingdom  of  Italy. 

In  this  issue  the  Italians  are  but  carrying  out  the  spirit  of  their 
master  minds,  from  Dante,  the  father  of  their  literature,  to  Gioberti, 
their  best  recent  philosopher,  and,  like  Dante,  a  Catholic  devotee. 
Italy  still  repeats  in  her  rising  monuments  and  statues  to  Dante  his 
reproach  to  the  temporal  ambition  of  the  Popes : — 

"  Ah,  Constantine  !  to  how  much  ill  gave  birth, 
Not  thy  conversion,  but  that  plenteous  dower 
Which  the  first  wealthy  Father  gained  from  thee." 

It  is.  perhaps,  amusing  in  so  obscure  a  man  to  say  it,  but  I  will  say 
that  I  left  Rome  with  a  feeling  of  kindness  for  the  Pope's  person  and 
character,  whilst  it  became  clearer  to  me  that  he  had  departed  from  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  primitive  church,  as  shown  in  the  catacombs  and 


LETTERS.  99 

early  monuments  of  Christian  Rome3  and  was  bent  on  confirming  the 
errors  and  superstitions  which  the  monkish  age  had  introduced  into 
the  church,  which  was  Apostolic  and  Catholic  before  it  was  Roman.  In 
return  for  his  blessing,  1  presume  to  give  him  that  of  an  humble  minister 
of  an  American  branch  of  the  Church  Universal,  and  to  wish  him  health 
and  peace  and  the  wisdom  needed  in  this  emergency.  We  cannot  expect 
him  to  anticipate  innovation  or  invite  invasion,  but  can  ask  him  to  see 
when  the  time  has  come  for  him  to  meet  the  issue  of  Providence  and 
the  age,  and  to  restore  an  apostolic  patriarch  and  chinch  to  the  world, 
which  has  so  long  been  disgusted  with  the  spectacle  of  a  feeble  and  in- 
triguing monarch  and  an  ill-governed  and  mischievous  State. 

It  is  well  for  ns  at  this  time  distinctly  to  declare  that  Home  pre- 
eminently belongs  to  Christendom,  and  that  in  the  changes  that  are  to 
bs  made  in  her  administration  all  odious  restrictions  should  be  removed, 
all  needless  offence  to  religious  convictions  should  be  avoided,  and  the 
treasures  of  art  and  monuments  of  religion,  which  all  ( Jhristian  nations 
have  in  some  measure,  contributed  to  the  eternal  city,  should  be  held 
generously  for  the  instruction  of  all  travellers,  for  the  edification  of  the 
whole  Church,  and  the  good  of  mankind. 

Italy  and  America  have  stood  in  history  together  for  nearly  four  cen- 
turies, since  one  Italian  opened  this  continent  to  Europe  and  another 
Italian  gave  it  a  name.  America  is  likely  to  return  the  service,  and 
give  to  Italy  liberty  of  conscience,  and  free  Rome  from  the  bandage  of 
ages.  fours  respectfully. 

Samuel  Osgood. 


FROM   REV.  C.  A.  BARTOL,  D.D. 

Boston,  dan.  20,  L871. 

Dear  Sir:  The  meeting  in  New  York  came,  before  your  letter,  to  stir 
ni"  with  its  report  as  nothing  beside  has  lately  done.  It  shall  have  at 
least  the  echo  of  my  thanks. 

The  old  idea  of  a  nation  was.  that  it  rises,  flourishes,  ripens,  and  de- 
cays, like  a  summer  growth  in  the  field.  But  a  nation  is  claiming  now 
to  be  something  immortal  on  earth,  [t  asserts  the  privilege,  so  long 
thought  peculiar  to  the  private  soul,  of  a  new  birth.  How  many  an 
swers  to  the  question, — Of  whal  is  this  the  age?  Is  it  not  the  age  mid 
day  of  regenerated  nations?  Witness  America,  Germany,  and  now 
[taly,  even  whose  ancient   glory  shall   be  outshone  and  shaded   \>\    lier 

coming  renown  !       Russia  shall   be  added,  if  she  follows  her  own   lead  o| 

emancipation  to  the  end.  Of  Spain  and  France  civil  and  religious  free 
dom  is  yet  in  travail ;  yel  the  suffering  mus<  issue  in  a  nobler  humanity 
brought  forth. 

Met  ntime,  all-hail  from  the  Western    R  'public  to  the  Italian  pe  tple, 
7 


100  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

putting  itself  in  the  van  of  Europe  again  with  its  rekindled  torch  !  Do 
not  Italians  all  over  the  globe,  in  a  fresh  spirit,  with  uplifted  eye,  share 
their  country's  resurrection-joy  ?  The  United  States  were  recreant  not 
to  respond.  We  love  not  our  neighbor  till  we  love  his  liberty  like  our 
own ;  and  unless  we  love  it  in  him,  we  do  not  love  it  at  all.  Let  us 
labor  for  it  always  and  everywhere, — prays  your 

0.  A.  Baktol. 


FKOM.  REV.  JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE. 

Boston,  Jan.  17,  1871. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  congratulate  you  on  the  magnificent  expression  of 
opinion  in  behalf  of  the  Unity  of  Italy,  at  your  meeting  at  the  Acade- 
my of  Music,  Jan.  12th.  Sitting  where  I  could  see  the  whole  audi- 
ence, I  felt  the  thrill  of  its  enthusiasm.  There  was  a  grand  fulness  of 
conviction  and  feeling  which  bore  us  all  up ;  and  if,  instead  of  your 
excellent  speakers,  there  had  been  poor  ones,  or  none  at  all,  still  the 
meeting  would  have  been  an  interesting  and  exciting  one.  And,  good 
as  the  speakers  were,  one  may  still  use  the  language  of  the  old  proverb 
and  say,  "  The  ears  of  the  people  were  better  than  the  lips  of  the 
preachers." 

This  meeting  (which  I  trust  will  be  followed  by  many  others)  shows 
that  the  heart  of  America  beats  right  on  the  great  question  of  Italian 
Unity.  In  Italy,  in  Germany,  throughout  Europe,  union  and  liberty 
must  go  together.  Small  and  disunited  States  are  the  natural  prey  of 
tyrants  and  dynastic  usurpers.  As  long  as  the  Roman  States  cut 
Italy  in  two,  so  long  an  impediment  was  in  the  way  of  the  progress  of  her 
people.  With  Unity  and  Independence  will  come  more  of  freedom, 
education,  and  progress.  Let  us  hope  that  the  hand  of  the  foreigner 
has  been  finally  and  forever  taken  from  her  throat,  and  that  henceforth 
she  can  freely  breathe  her  own  divine  air,  and  expand  into  her  own 
beautiful  life. 

Many  of  the  Roman  Catholic  partisan  writers  object  to  this  great 
consummation,  and  in  the  supposed  interest  of  their  church  woidd 
deny  to  the  Roman  people  the  right  of  deciding  for  themselves  how 
they  should  be  governed.  They  lament  the  fall  of  the  clerical  govern- 
ment in  those  States,  and  seem  to  think  that  the  Pope  is  badly  treated 
by  being  deprived  of  his  temporal  sovereignty.  But  their  arguments, 
when  they  condescend  to  use  any,  will  not  bear  examination.  No 
American  citizen,  receiving  the  traditions  of  our  own  institutions,  and 
believing  in  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  but 
must  admit  that  the  only  right  to  govern  is  the  consent  of  the  people 
who  are  governed.  The  people  of  Rome,  with  astonishing  unanimity, 
and  in  a  perfectly  free  election,  absolutely  rejected    the    Papal    and 


LETTERS.  I'M 

priestly  government.  It  is  said  that  they  voted  thus  from  fear  of  the 
Italian  King.  But  what  is  the  good  of  a  priestly  government  and 
education  during  a  thousand  years,  if  it  has  not  been  able  to  produce 
better  Catholics  than  this?  Is  this  the  result  of  Catholic  teaching, 
that  a  whole  community  arc  afraid  to  be  the  confessors  and  martyrs 
of  their  faith  in  the  Pope  and  his  sovereignty?  If  Catholic  kings 
and  nations  treat  their  spiritual  Head  with  this  brutal  injustice,  as 
we  are  told  they  do,  and  if  the  Catholic  faithful  have  not  faith 
enough  even  to  cast  a  vote  in  his  favor,  we  may  well  say  that  the 
religion  which  has  had  the  monopoly  of  their  instruction  for  so 
many  centuries  has  not  been  very  successful.  But  no; — the  Pope 
lias  suffered  no  injustice.  As  a  temporal  monarch  he  shares  tin- 
fate  of  all  temporal  monarchs  ;  he  must  submit  to  the  popular  judg- 
ment on  his  mode  of  government.  He,  with  all  other  rulers,  must 
submit  to  the  great  rule  of  modern  democracy,  which  declares  that 
every  government  derives  its  right  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

Again,  therefore,  let  me  congratulate  you  that  our  beautiful  Italy 
is  free  and  one.  The  home  and  nurse  of  such  mighty  nations, — the 
seat  of  such  a  majestic  history,— the  heir  of  such  an  immortal 
renown, — possessing  the  charm  of  so  heavenly  a  beauty,  rich  in  such 
a  literature  and  art — she  will  now  also,  reunited,  join  the  ranks  of 
an  advancing  civilization,  and  contribute  again  her  share  toward  the 
development  of  mankind.  All  American  citizens  who  have  the  spirit 
of  America  in  them,  must  rejoice  over  this  great  event  and  these  noble 
prospects. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

James  Freeman  <  !larke. 


FROM  BEV.  O.  B.   FEOTHINGHAM. 

New  York,  January  .">,  1871. 

Gentlemen:  The  announcement  that  a  meeting  will  be  held  "to 
celebrate  the  completion  of  [talian  Unity,  and  to  express  to  United 
Italy  the  sympathy  and  congratulations  of  the  American  people  on  the 
emancipation  of  Rome,  its  occupation  as  the  future  capital  of  the 
nation,  in  accordance  with  the  free  vote  of  the  Roman  citizens,  and  the 
consequent  establishment  of  civil  anil  religious  liberty  throughout  the 
Peninsula,"  gives  the  heartiest  satisfaction,  and  I  am  honored  by, 
the  requesl  to  send  a  message  to  it.  .May  it  be  large  and  enthusiastic! 
M-V  ''  give  voice  to  the  intelligent  convictions  of  thoughtful,  earnest 
Americans  who  rejoice  in  the  extension  of  the  principles  they  honor, 
ami  live  in  t  bemseh  es  ! 

The   European  sentiment,  lay  ami   clerical,  the   monarchical  and  the 
papal  sentiment,  each  in  sympathy  with  civil  and   religious  absolutism, 


102  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

has  expressed  itself  in  words  of  indignation  and  condolence  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  protesting  against  the  deeds  we  exult  in,  and  bewailing 
the  events  we  welcome.  Now  let  the  truly  American  spirit  speak  its 
word  of  cheer  to  the  Italian  people. 

Rome  and  Italy  are  inseparably  associated  in  our  thoughts.  To  most 
of  us  Rome  is  Italy,  and  Italy  is  Rome.  Italians  feel  that  Italy  with- 
out Rome  is  incomplete.  Romans  feel  that  Rome  without  Italy  is  sun- 
dered from  the  source  of  her  life.  All  interests  render  the  restoration 
of  Rome  to  the  nation  an  imperative  necessity.  Italy  and  Rome  share 
fortunes,  and  must  live  or  die  together.  The  unity  of  Rome  and  Italy 
is  the  first  step  towards  the  moral  unity  of  Italy,  and  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  others  that  must  lead  to  the  organic  unity  of  the  whole 
people. 

For  centuries  Rome  has  been  the  symbol  of  unity  ;  for  centuries  she 
lias  endeavored  to  make  herself  the  centre  and  seat  of  it.  Pagan 
Rome  was  the  heart  of  an  Empire  that  aimed  at  bringing  under 
one  sway  the  diverse  tribes  and  interests  of  the  earth.  Reducing  the 
peoples  first  under  subjection  to  its  military  dominion,  it  did  its  best  to 
fuse  them  together  by  its  organizing  power  and  skill.  The  ruder  nations 
were  held  by  its  discipline  ;  the  more  refined  were  educated  by  its 
laws.  It  struggled  hard  and  not  unsuccessfully  to  secure  and  perpetu- 
ate uniformity  of  speech,  usage,  legislation,  privilege.  It  could  collect 
all  the  gods  beneath  one  dome,  if  it  could  not  blend  all  worshippers  in 
one  confession.  The  great  roads  that  i-adiated  from  the  imperial  city 
riveted  to  it  the  countries  they  traversed,  and  drew  all  regards  towards 
the  vast  centre,  which  was  hardly  more  the  seat  of  the  Empire  than  it 
was  the  Empire  itself.  History  shows  nothing  so  impressive  in  out- 
ward majesty,  as  that  simple  organization  of  government.  But  the 
unity  thus  created  was  purely  external.  It  was  military,  geographical, 
administrative,  not  organic ;  and  consequently  when  it  fell  in  pieces  it 
left  the  people  in  a  heterogeneous  condition,  without  intelligent  under- 
standing of  their  circumstances  or  of  themselves.  The  result  was  dis- 
cord. 

Christian  Rome,  too,  represented  unity,  and  tried  to  effect  it.  The 
Church  revived  the  imperial  traditions,  superadding  to  them  the  pow- 
erful combining  element  of  religion.  For  centuries  Rome  has  been  the 
symbol  of  spiritual  unity.  But  this  was  as  artificial  as  the  other.  It 
was  the  unity  of  sheep  in  the  fold,  of  fagots  in  the  bundle.  It  was 
the  unity  of  the  few  in  formal  bonds  ;  unity  in  church  life,  not  unity 
in  h  a  inn  n  life;  unity  in  observance,  not  unity  in  faith  and  love  ;  unity 
as  of  a  company  dwelling  under  the  same  roof,  not  unity  as  of  men  and 
women  respecting  each  other's  rights,  honoring  each  other's  personality, 
advocating  each  other's  interests,  furthering  each  other's  aims.     It  was 


LETTERS. 


L03 


tli.'  unity  of  tradition,  nut  the  unity  of  man;  a  unity  based  on  the 
theory  that  outside  the  ecclesiastical  limits  no  unity  existed  or  waspos- 
sible.  Of  course,  such  unity  as  this  had  no  organic  root  and  no  vital 
force.  It  maintained  itself  by  foreign  powers.  The  withdrawal  of  the 
French  troops  showed  that  its  enclosing  walls  had  no  foundations  ;  that 
its  enclosing  bond  was  a  rope  of  sand. 

Now.  at  last,  after  immense  effort  and  unspeakable  suffering,  and 
partly  as  the  result  of  a  great  European  convulsion,  Italy  is  at  liberty 
to  assert  herself.  She  seizes  her  opportunity  ;  she  makes  endeavor, 
with  something  like  a  good  hope,  after  that  truly  national  unity  of 
which,  thus  far.  she  has  exhibited  the  once  fair,  now  ghastly  symbol. 
At  length  there  is  prospect  that  the  Italian  people  may  become  one, 
occupying  their  whole  territory,  possessing  their  ancient  metropolis, 
enjoying  harmony  of  law  and  administration,  all  the  great  liberties  of 
conscience,  thought,  and  speech,  constitutional  rights,  social  privileges, 
civil  responsibilities,  the  immunities  of  citizens,  the  opportunities  of 
men.  The  sword  of  the  Emperor  is  broken.  The  crosier  of  the  priest- 
is  flung  aside.  The  gates  of  communication  are  opened.  The  chan- 
nels of  sympathy  are  clear.  The  King  says  to  the  Parliament  :  "  Italy 
is  free  and  one :  it  now  rests  with  us  to  make  her  great  and  happy.' 

If  the  old  regime  has  not  quite  exhausted  the  energy,  stupefied  the 
will,  deadened  the  intelligence,  discouraged  the  prodigious  genius  that 
so  long  swayed  and  glorified  the  earth  ;  if  faith  in  ideas  be  still  alive, 
if  a  glimmering  of  hope  remains,  if  any  spark  of  generous  ambition 
still  survive  the  terrible  depression  of  the  last  generations,  if  mutual 
confidence  be  recoverable  after  the  shock  it  has  sustained  from  in- 
trigue and  priestcraft,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  good  reason  for 
doubting  that  Italy  has  before  her  a  brilliant  career. 

It  is  thought  by  many  that  the  Italians  accept  happiness  on  terms 
too  easy  ;  that  they  are  surrounded  by  more  temptations  than  they  can 
resist  :  and  may  be  induced  again  to  lay  down  the  burden  of  thought, 
and  surrender  aspiration  at  the  summons  of  pleasure.  If  this  be  true 
now,  it  has  not  always  been  true.  If  it  be  true  now,  the  reason  of  it 
must  he  sought  in  the  influence,  at  once  crushing  and  end  \ating.  of  the 
institutions  now  passing  away.  The  destruction  of  these,  being  effect- 
ed by  exterior  circumstances  and  not  by  interior  revolt,  reveals  the  las- 
sit  im1< -  they  hav e  caused. 

Tic-  more  need  then  that  a  strong  people,  who  have  discovered  that 
in  civil  and  religious  liberty  is  peace  and  sai'etv ,  should  reach  out  a 
hand  of  recognition  and  sympathy  to  their  brothers  across  the  sea; 
should  address  them  in  words  of  cheer,  express  joy  at  then  opportu- 
nity, confidence  in  their  ability  to  improve  it,  faith  in  their  constancy, 
and  hope  of  their  success. 


104  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Let  America,  out  of  her  heart,  say  what  she  feels  ;  say  it  so  loudly 
that  Europe  shall  hear  ;  say  it  so  emphatically  that  Italy  shall  be  en- 
couraged to  complete  her  unity,  sure  of  the  moral  support  of  the  Great 

Republic. 

Faithfully  your  servant, 

O.  B.  Frothingham. 


FROM  REV.  WILLIAM  R.  ALGER. 

Boston,  Mass.,  January  9th,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  To  every  American,  to  every  lover  of  humanity,  to  every 
man  who  desires  the  prevalence  of  justice,  freedom,  truth,  and  light,  the 
Unification  of  Italy,  as  exemplified  in  the  recent  occupation  of  Rome 
by  her  King,  is  an  event  hardly  second  in  interest  to  any  which  has 
marked  the  present  century.  Millions  of  our  countrymen  appreciate  the 
debt  they  owe,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  to  the  illustrious 
men  of  genius,  and  the  immense  services  which  have  secured  to  the 
beautiful  but  long-oppressed  country  of  Virgil  and  Cicero,  Columbus  and' 
Galileo,  so  unparalleled  a  glory.  All  these  must  rejoice  in  the  fit  ex- 
pression your  meeting  will' give  of  the  sympathy,  confidence,  and  en- 
couragement which,  on  this  welcome  occasion,  America  desires  to  send 
across  the  sea  to  Italy.     No  one  of  them  all  will  rejoice  more  heartily 

than  I. 

What  a  magnificent  drama  the  Unification  of  Italy  has  been,  moving 
through  scene  after  scene,  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  thinking  of  her 
statesmen,  from  the  happy  prologue  of  Turin  to  the  swelling  close 
of  the  imperial  theme  in  Rome  !  What  brilliant  hours,  what  enviable 
hours  have  signalized  the  reign  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  in  the  friendship  of 
( favour  and  D'Azeglio,  the  celebration  of  the  sixth  centenary  of  Dante, 
the  triumphal  entry,  in  succession,  of  Naples,  Florence,  Venice,  Rome  ! 
May  his  future  course  be  as  judicious  and  successful  as  should  be  the 
course  of  one  who  is  blessed  with  such  patriotic  counsellors  !  And, 
under  his  liberal  rule,  may  the  Italian  people  gain  all  the  liberty, 
enterprise,  prosperity,  personal  worth,  and  public  spirit  which  the 
American  people  gratefully  wish  for  them  ! 

William  R.  Alger. 


FROM  REV.  EDWARD  E.  HALE. 

Boston,  Jan.  11,  1871. 
Dear  Sir  :  The  dying  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ  is  that  all  men  may  be 
one.  His  purpose  requires  a  union  of  the  divided  States  and  commu- 
nities, which  clash  against  each  other  in  savage  society.  And  nothing 
so  distinctly  proves  the  increasing  ascendency  of  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel 
as  the  steady  advance   in  which,  in  Europe  and  America,  large  nations 


LKTTER8.  105 

have  been  made  by  the  union  of  many  little  tribes.  Thus  England  is 
made  from  the  heptarchy  :  France  from  the  broken  tribes  of  Gaul;  Spain 
from  those  of  the  Peninsula,  and  at  last,  Italy  from  the  broken  bits  of 
mosaic  which  arc  but  just  now  fused  into  one. 

When  one  little  fragment  of  Italy  asks  for  the  privilege  of  separating 
the  north  of  that  nation  from  the  south,  it  asks  for  the  privilege  of 
standing  in  opposition  to  this  regular  advance  of  the  Christian  common- 
wealth. 

I  understand  least  of  all,  why  members  of  the  Roman  Church  ask  for 
the  separation  of  Italy,  that  the  temporal  authority  of  the  Pope  may  be 
maintained.  As  a  student  of  church  history,  I  remember  many  saints, 
who  deserve  that  name,  and  received  it  from  the  Roman  Church,  who 
were  bishoj:>s  of  Rome,  and  thus,  in  the  hierarchy  of  that  church,  became 
fathers  of  the  faithful.  But  since  the  bishops  of  Rome  have  been  per- 
plexed by  the  petty  administration  of  local  political  power,  I  do  not 
remember  any  of  their  number  whom  the  Church  of  Rome  to-day  would 
care  to  canonize,  if  their  claims  were  submitted  to  her  decision.  This 
failure  of  the  political  Popes  to  come  up  to  the  Church's  own  standard 
of  purity,  illustrates  the  danger  of  entangling  one  of  her  spiritual  ser- 
vants with  the  annoying  responsibilities  of  temporal  command. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

Edward  E.  Hale. 


FROM  PROF.   C.  S.  HENRY,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Litchfield,  Ct.,  .January  11,  1871. 
My  Dear  Sir:  Rome,  the  centre  of  an  Italy  One  and  Free  ! — free 
at  once  from  the  absolutism  that  kept  down  both  political  and  religious 
freedom  by  force  of  arms, — such,  by  a  remarkable  coincidence,  is  the 
two-fold  significance  of  the  event  you  celebrate.  What  a  consummation  ! 
What  a  step  onward  !  What  a  future  for  Italy  and  for  humanity  it 
opens  to  view,  under  the  guidance  of  that  Providence  which  is  the 
genius  of  human  history  !      Let  us  have  faith  and  hope. 

Ever,  with  hearty  sympathy,  faithfully  yours, 

('.  s.  Eenry. 


FROM  PROF.  BENJAMIN  N.  MARTIN. 

New  York  University,  January  11,  1871. 

Dear  Sir:  It  gives  me  sincere  and  greal  pleasure  to  express  mj  cor- 
dial sympathy  with  your  Committee,  in  their  congratulation  of  the 
Italian  people  upon  the  liberty  of  R i,  and  the  unity  of  ttaly. 

In  vindicating  the  receni  rejection,  by  the  Romans,  of  the  priestly 
governmenl  which  has  so  long  crushed  them,  we  advance  do  new  or 
questionable  principles.     It    has  been   well  said,  that  ifyondinsed  an 


106  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Anglo-Saxon,  deep  down  below  all  things  else,  you  will  find  the  con- 
ception of  twelve  men  in  a  jury-box.  It  may  with  equal  truth  be  said 
that  if  you  dissect  an  American,  you  will  find  in  the  inmost  chamber  of 
his  heart  the  principles  of  our  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence  ; 
that  governments  exist  to  secure  the  God-given  liberties  of  men,  and 
that  when  a  government  fails  to  accomplish  this  end,  it  is  the  right  of 
the  people  to  alter  it. 

That  the  Papal  government  has  failed  to  secure  the  liberty  of  its  late 
subjects,  I  think  no  man  will  deny.  Nay  ;  not  only  has  it  failed  to  se- 
cure to  them  liberty  of  speech,  of  political  action,  and  of  worship,  but 
its  one  aim  has  been  to  obstruct  and  to  repress  such  liberty.  In  this 
oppressive  aim  it  stands  alone.  Other  governments  have  repress  .eel 
liberty  by  a  political  necessity;  this,  by  spontaneous  impulse;  others 
have  restricted  liberty  ;  this  has  totally  denied  it ;  others  have  aimed  to 
reconcile  authority  with  liberty,  and  conciliate  order  with  progress ; 
this  holds  no  terms  with  liberty,  and  seeks  no  harmony  with  modern 
civilization.  It  maintains  the  most  bald  and  odious  form  of  tyranny — 
the  absolute  authority  of  a  single  despot  over  all  the  rights  and  all 
the  liberties  of  the  people  whom  he  calls  his. 

Now,  whether  the  principle  that  affirms  the  right  of  altering  such  a 
government  is  true  or  not,  it  is  certainly  the  American  principle.  We 
have  recognized  and  proclaimed  it  too  long  to  leave  any  doubt  on  that 
point.  Whoever  denies  it,  therefore,  is  no  exponent  of  American  sen- 
timent, and  has  no  true  idea  of  American  freedom.  He  may  be  a  Franco- 
American  or  an  Irish- American ;  but  a  true  American  he  can  never 
be.  For  that,  he  needs  a  heart  that  throbs  in  sympathy  with  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  our  freedom ;  and  if  he  is  destitute  of  this,  we  can 
only  say,  in  reply  to  whatever  clamorous  professions  of  democracy,  with 
the  bewilelered  patriarch  of  old,  "  The  voice  is  the  voice  of  Jacob,  but 
the  hands  are  the  hands  of  Esau." 

Not  only,  however,  is  this  the  American  principle,  but  it  is  the  true  prin- 
ciple of  the  State.  In  civil  society  men  are  equals.  The  rights  of  one  man 
are  neither  more  sacred  nor  less  sacred  than  those  of  another.  The 
humblest  Jew  whom  Papal  tyranny  has  locked  up,  night  after  night,  his 
life  long,  in  the  Ghetto  of  Pome,  has  a  conscience  and  an  intelligence, 
the  rights  of  which  are  as  sacred  as  those  of  the  Papal  See  itself;  though 
this,  no  one  of  the  thousand  prelates  recently  assembled  there  was  in- 
spired to  see.  Surely  it  is  a  nobler  inspiration  which  teaches  us  to  dis- 
cern the  hatefulness  of  bondage,  in  whatever  form,  and  which  impels  a 
wreat  and  free  nation  to  say  to  those  who  have  so  long  lain  in  chains, 

like  the  mighty  master  of  us  all — "  Pise  up  and  walk." 

In  this  sentiment,  the  American  heart   sympathizes  with  whatever 
people  rises  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  an  oppressive  government, — with 


LETTERS.  I»l7 

Poland,  with  Crete,  with  Spain,  with  Cuba.  It  responds  to  the  cry  of 
"  Ireland  for  the  Irish  ;  "  and  it  cannot  understand  why  those  who  utter 
that  shout  with  such  apparent  enthusiasm,  should  stand  dumb  when 
they  hear  the  answering  cry  of  "  Italy  for  the  Italians,"  or  of  "Rome 

for  the  Romans;" — nay,  should  begin,  as  soon  as  there  is  a  question 
of  Roman  liberty,  to  clamor  for  a  union  of  all  the  adherents  of  the 
deposed  tyrant,  to  restore  by  force  his  odious  despotism. 

Our  principle  is,  moreover,  the  only  just  one  in  civil  arrangements. 
It  metes  out  impartial  liberty  to  all.  He  who  claims  more  for  himself 
than  he  is  willing  to  concede  to  another,  is  the  enemy  of  all  society — 
hostis  humani  generis.  No  man  may  justly  claim  authority  over  his 
fellow-men  in  Geneva  because  he  is  a  Protestant ;  nor  in  Rome,  be- 
cause lie  is  a  Catholic. 

I  only  add,  that  this  principle  of  justice  and  equality  is  also  the 
religious  principle  of  society.  That  is  religion  which  does  to  others  as 
you  would  have  them  do  to  you  ;  which  holds  all  rights  of  others 
sacred  from  invasion  by  our  agency;  which  recognizes  the  sole  dominion 
of  God  over  the  conscience;  and  which  scorns  to  seek  advantages  for 
the  truth  by  oppressing  or  outraging  those  who  do  not  believe  it. 

For  these  reasons  I  sympathize  with  those  who  celebrate  the  emanci- 
pation of  Rome  and  the  Unity  of  Italy.  I  rejoice  that  this  auspicious 
e] i ange  has  taken  place;  and  I  recognize,  with  reverence,  the  hand  of 
God  in  the  stern  and  solemn  providences  by  which  the  pursuance  of  the 
revolution  seems  assured.  Once  before,  within  our  remembrance,  did 
liberty  dawn  upon  Pome;  but  at  the  call  of  the  Pope,  France  invaded 
Italy  and  bombarded  Rome.  Now  the  deposed  Pontill'  proclaims  him- 
self a  captive  in  the  Vatican;  the  perfidious  Napoleon,  who  was  Ids 
tool,  sits  a  despised  prisoner  in  Germany;  and  the  Republic,  which  was 
so  unfaithful  to  the  claims  of  freedom,  finds  its  own  fair  soil  invaded 
and  its  own  proud  capital  cowering  under  the  bombardment  of  a 
triumphant  foe.  By  judgments  which  awe  the  world,  does  Heaven 
secure  the  immunity  of  freedom.  Alas!  that  the  mills  of  the  gods 
must  grind  so  small  to  teach  men  justice. 

All-hail  then  to  a  reunited  Italy!  Too  long  have  her  sundered  limbs 
lain,  like  the  bones  in  the  prophet's  vision,  lifeless  and  dry  in  the  val- 
ley. At  length  bone  has  come  to  ii  -  bone,  and  her  fair  form  stands 
before  us,  restored  in  all  its  fine  proportions,  and  instinct  with  a  new 
and  vigorous  life.    May  it  last  a  thousand  years  ! 

Very  cordially  yours, 

BENJ  \mi\   N.   Maim  IN. 


108 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


FROM  PROF.   TAYLER  LEWIS,  LL.D. 

Union  College,  Schenectady, 
January  17,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  The  state  of  my  health  prevented  my  attendance  at 
the  late  Celebration  of  Italian  Unity,  in  New  York.     I  wish  to  assure 
you,  however,  of  my  hearty  sympathy  in  the  great  movement,  and  in 
the    results   it  has    already   accomplished.      In    our   own  late    fearful 
struggle  the  chief  interest,  to  my  mind,  lay  in  the  principle  of  nation- 
ality which  it  so  plainly  involved.     The  rebellion,  had  it  been  success- 
ful, would  have  divided  us  into  a  number  of  petty  and  ever-dissolving 
communities,  cherishing  narrow  interests,  hostile  to  each  other,  and 
constantly  liable  to  be  controlled  by  foreign  influence.     It  would  have 
reduced  us,  in  fact,  to  a  state  of  political  anarchy  far  worse  than  that 
from  which  Germany  and  Italy  have  lately  emerged.      It  is  this  prin- 
ciple of  nationality  which  makes  the  three  movements  so  much  akin,  and 
which  will  also  make  them  stand  out  prominently  in  the  history  of  the 
present  century.     It  is  one  in  which,  as  Christians,  we  may  especially 
sympathize,  because,  whilst  allowing  the  utmost  freedom  in  the  choice 
and  form  of  government,  it  is  so  conservative  of  all  that  is  highest  in 
humanity.     It  is  in   perfect   harmony  with  the  spirit   of  our  ancient 
Scriptures,    so   deeply  underlying   all  true  political  philosophy.      Cod 
meant  that  men  should  live  in  nations,  each  having  something  predo- 
minant in  language,  culture,  institutions,  and  genealogical  unity.     This 
spirit  of  Revelation  is  as  much  at  war  with  an  ideal  cosmopolitanism,  on 
the  one  hand,  as  it  is  with  the  tendency  to  arbitrary  political  divisions 
or  arbitrary  political  combinations,  on  the  other.      Both  are  alike  op- 
posed to  the  realization  of  a  true  brotherhood  in  the  whole  human  race  ; 
the  one  by  the  destruction  of  the  closer  links  that  bind  men  together  in 
families   and  nationalities,  the   other   by  the  unnatural  jealousies  and 
strifes  it  ever  engenders.     It  is  in  this  light  we  may  regard  these  three 
great  movements  of  our  times,  as  having  an  essential  identity,  however 
differing  they  may  be  in  form.     The  Italian  has  a  special  interest  for 
us  in  its  classical  associations,  as  also  in  its  more  direct  connection  with 
the  cause  of  true  religious  liberty. 

Here,  however,  permit  me  to  say  a  word  or  two,  which  it  is 
hoped  will  not  be  deemed  out  .of  harmony  with  the  intent  and 
spirit  of  your  celebration.  Nationality  must  be  grounded  on 
something  organically  predominant  in  ethnological  relationship  (I 
avoid  the  word  race  on  account  of  its  gross  abuse),  in  language, 
in  historical  growth,  and,  let  me  not  hesitate  to  add,  in  religious 
thinking  and  feeling.  Our  own  nationality  is  gone — its  reality  is 
wone  though  the  shadow  may  still  remain — when  we  come  to  be  re- 
garded, or  to  regard  ourselves,  as  a  colluvies  gentium.     We  commenced 


LETTERS.  109 

our  political  being  as  a   true  gens,  a  people  of  kindred  blood  direct  l\ 
allied  to  one  of  the  oldest  nations  in  Europe.   '  For  the  preservation  of 
this,  as  something  predominant,  and  to  be  kept  predominant,  we  should 

earnestly  strive,  even  as  we  seek  to  preserve  a  like  national  feature  for 
Italy  and  Germany.  At  the  laying,  too,  of  our  national  foundations, 
there  were  certain  civic  and  religious  ideas  which  entered  deeply  into 
the.  structure  that  has  been  built  upon  them.  They  have  become  in- 
corporated in  the  national  life,  and  we  cannot  cut  them  out,  or  cauterize 
their  outward  marks,  without  inflicting  a  deadly  wound.  With  the 
utmost  charity,  then,  towards  all  dissentients,  these  formative  ideas  are 
to  be  maintained  as  essential  to  our  political  being,  or  as  constituting 
us  a  distinct  nation  upon  earth,  with  a  distinctive  national  character. 
Especially  are  they  to  be  maintained  as  against  a  system  which  may  be 
described  as  one  of  direct  antagonism,  and  with  which  aU  compromising 
coalescence  must  be  pronounced  utterly  hopeless.  Toleration  there 
may  be,  the  largest  liberty  of  indulgence,  but  no  true  social  or  national 
union  between  such  warring  elements.  I  need  not  say  that  I  refer  to 
the  Roman  hierarchy  and  the  Roman  theology  as  embracing  the  lately 
announced,  though  long  maintained,  Papistical  idea.  Of  this  it  may  be 
said,  with  the  utmost  fairness,  and  without  any  reference  to  its  absolute 
truth  or  falsehood,  that  it  is  certainly  out  of  all  harmony  with  the  in- 
stitutions established  by  our  Protestant  ancestors,  and,  to  this  day, 
more  or  less  soundly,  conserved  among  us.  It  may  he  thought  that  we 
live  in  an  age  too  enlightened  to  be  controlled  by  any  such  considera- 
tions. If  so,  then  we  must  give  up  the  idea  of  sovereign  nationality; 
a  tiling  which  Rome  certainly  will  not  do.  We  must  abandon  the  idea  of 
nationality  at  all,  as  distinguished  from  a  loose  cosmopolitanism,  having 
no  bond  of  historical  sympathy,  or  with  nothing  to  hold  it  together  but 
i  he  impulses  of  masses  and  individuals.  Rome  would  reduce  usto'such 
a  nationality,  if  we  may  give  it  the  name,  as  most  favorable  to  her  own 
schemes;  the  atheist  would  favor  it  as  the  very  expression  of  his 
anarchical  ideas. 

We  are  not  yet  prepared  for  this  in  either  aspect, and  I.  would  there- 
fore venture  to  express  a  caution,  which  some  things,  in  the  unguarded 
feelings  of  such  a  meeting  as  \  oil  have  called,  may  make  not  w  holly  out 
of   place.     An  expression   in    favor  of  Italian   l:nit\  cannot  well    be 

given  without  speaking  freely  of  the  present  condition  of  the  Pope  and 
the  Roman  Church.  In  doing  this,  however,  there  is  certainly  needed 
greal  care,  leal  we  be  carried  too  far  in  the  direction  of  the  opposite, 
and,  in  Borne  respects,  far  \\oi>e  extreme.  The  day  of  Church  and 
Shoe  is  gone.  No  true  Protestanl  Christian  won  hi  wish  to  call  it  hack. 
All  admit  this,  except  those  who  wish  to  keep  up  the  bugbear  <i\  ami 
show  for  sinister  purposes.     Bui  an  absolute  divorce  between  the  State 


110  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

and  religion  —that  is  another  and  very  different  matter.  It  is  an  ex- 
periment yet  to  be  tried.  It  will  be  a  very  fearful  experiment,  and 
we  should  be  very  careful  that  we  do  not  thoughtlessly  precipitate  it, 
or,  in  our  just  enthusiasm  for  the  fullest  liberty  of  the  individual  con- 
science, strike  at  those  religious  foundations  on  which  alone  a  true  ami 
permanent  nationality  may  rest  secure.  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  express 
myself  more  fully  here,  to  guard  against  misconception,  and  by  way  of 
showing  the  real  and  tenable  distinction  between  the  two  ideas  ;  but  I 
must  not  inflict  on  you  an  essay  in  answer  to  the  invitation  with 
which  you  have  honored  me.  For  thinking  men  it  is  sufficient,  as  it 
may  be  hoped,  to  present  simply  the  extremes  referred  to — the  Scylla 
and  Charybdis  of  this  double  peril.  There  may  be  a  State  without 
a  bishop,  without  a  priesthood,  without  a  church.  But  there  cannot 
be  a  State  without  a  God—  a  God  acknowledged.  The  opposite  idea 
is  not  simply  anti-religious;  it  is  anti-social,  anti-national,  suicidal. 
To  express  it  all  in  a  single,  most  significant  term,  it  is  utterly  ami 
hopelessly  disorganizing.  There  is  danger  in  both  directions,  and  that, 
too,  not  merely  of  moral  disorder,  but  as  directly  threatening . our  cher- 
ished idea  of  American  nationality.  Pardon  the  liberty  I  have  taken, 
if  it  is  a  liberty.  I  would  rather  hope  that  you  would  i-egard  it  as  an 
allowable  exercise  of  that  freedom  of  thought  and  of  opinion  which  your 
meeting  is  called  to  sustain. 

Very  truly   yours, 

Tayler  Lewis. 


FROM  RICHARD  H.  DANA,  JUN.,  ESQ. 

Boston,  January  7,  1871. 

Gentlemen  :  I  am  much  honored  by  your  invitation  to  address  the 
meeting  for  Italian  Unity,  and  especially  by  your  kind  reference  to 
what  you  are  pleased  to  term  my  labors  in  the  cause  of  liberty  in 
America.  That  struggle  being  now  happily  over,  I  have  no  part  in 
public  affairs,  am  entirely  disconnected  from  office  or  political  influence, 
merely  a  local  working  lawyer,  and  my  presence  at  your  meeting  can 
be  of  no  significance,  and  my  duties  here  are  such  as  to  preclude  it. 
But  you  are  so  kind  as  to  ask  me  to  write  something,  if  1  cannot 
attend  in  person.  This  I  certainly  am  most  happy  to  do,  for  I  need 
only  leave  my  letter  at  your  disposal,  to  vise  or  not,  as  you  may  think 
most  for  the  interest  of  your  cause. 

It  is  tempting  and  easy  to  give  way  to  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of 
Italian  Unity.  You  will  have  an  abundance  of  that,  in  the  most  attrac- 
tive and  gratifying  forms.  But,  for  some  reason  or  other,  my  mind  is 
impelled  rather  to  a  sober  consideration  of  the  case,  in  the  light  of  in- 
ternational ethics. 


LETTERS.  Ill 

Then-  is  a  strong  and  tlocj >  feeling  against  the  present  status  of  Rome 
in  the  minds  of  many,  probably  most  Rinnan  Catholic  Christians, 
and  very  earnest  and  persistent  efforts  are  made  to  create  a  reaction 
against  it  throughout  Christendom.  It  seems  to  me  wiser  as  well 
as  more  generous  to  meet  this  feeling  and  these  arguments, than  to 
ignore  them.  And  while  such  considerations  might  be  ill  suited  to  an 
oral  address  at  a  meeting  of  triumphant  friends  of  a  cause,  it  is  pos- 
sible they  may  be  not  unacceptable  if  printed  for  quiet  reading  in 
the  book  you  say  yon  intend  to  publish. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  limit  to  the  argument  of  right  drawn  solely  from 
political  geography  and  plebiscites;  and  the  argument  is  feeble  in  pro- 
portion to  the  narrowness  of  the  space  to  which  it  is  applied.  If  there 
should  be  a  dissolution  of  our  own  republic,  the  people  of  the  whole 
republic  wo\ild  have  something  to  say  about  Washington  and  its  public 
buildings,  whatever  might  be  the  plebiscite  of  the  city,  or  even  of 
the  State  of  Maryland,  and  whatever  might  be  said  about  natural 
boundaries  and  a  natural  capital.  If  the  inhabitants  of  the  Sixth 
Ward  of  Boston  should  vote  themselves  an  independent  republic,  with 
the  State  House  for  their  capitol,  because  it  is  within  their  limits,  it 
would  be  treated  as  an  absurdity.  If  Boston  should  do  the  like,  it 
would  be  propoi-tionally  less  absurd,  but  would  have  little  chauce  for 
support  or  sympathy  against  the  moral  claim  of  Massachusetts  to  the 
city  and  its  capitol  alike.  The  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  built  the  temple, 
placing  it  at  Jerusalem,  making  Jerusalem  the  see  of  their  religion, 
giving  to  the  city  dignity,  importance,  grandeur,  and  wealth  by  their 
institutions,  and  their  annual  assemblings  at  their  great  feasts  of  the 
Passover  and  Pentecost.  The  people  of  Jerusalem  and  of  .ludea, 
while,  on  the  one  hand,  they  derived  honor  and  consequence  and  power 
from  this  condition  of  things,  on  the  other,  took  these  privileges  with 
some  consequent  obligations.  They  took  them  in  their  character  as  a 
UREAT    NATIONAL    TRUST.       I   apprehend    that     little    respcet    would    have 

been  paid  by  the  twelve  tribes  to  any  action  of  the  people  of  Jerusa- 
lem or  of  dudea,  taking  the  temple  and  the  sacred  spots  and  the  priest 
hood  to  themselves,  or  proposing  to  abolish  or  banish  them,  whether 
they  cast  their  action   in  the  form  of  force  at  first,  or  of  vote  to  he 
backed  by  force.     Questions  that  may  arise  out  of  states  of  things  at 

all  analogous  to  these,  are  rather  of  moral  claims  than  of  what  we  call 
law,  or  even  political  right.  International  law,  in  its  strictest  sense, 
whether  we  call  it  ./us  or  Lex,  Droit  or  Loi}  Recht  or  Ge8etz,  can  fur- 
nish no  absolute  rule.  Nor  does  history  present  a  case  parallel  with 
that  of  Pome.  Each  case  of  this  description  is  a  law  for  itself,  lis 
solution  must  depend  upon  the  application  of  ethical  considerations  to 
all  its  peculiar  circumstances. 


112  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

The  apparent  majority  of  those  who  hold  allegiance  to  the  Roman 
Church, — I  greatly  fear  it  is  by  no  means  so  with  all, — put  their  cause 
somewhat  upon  such  considerations  as  those  I  have  hinted  at ;  at  least 
it  is  so  with  such  writers  and  speakers  as  seem  to  have  stopped  to 
reason  at  all.  They  say  that  they  are  citizens  of  a  politeia  which  ex- 
tends over  the  world,  and  which  has  had  Rome  as  its  capital,  its  sacred 
see,  from  the  beginning  of  Christendom  ;  and  that- Rome  has  been  saved 
from  extinction,  and  made  what  it  is, — has  been  glorified  and  beautified, 
enriched  and  honored,  by  the  contributions  of  Christendom,  and  given 
its  title  of  the  Eternal  City,  its  St.  Peter's  and  Vatican,  its  world-re- 
nowned buildings,  its  libraries,  galleries,  museums,  schools  and  chari- 
ties by  Catholic  Christendom,  not  by  Rome  or  Italy.  They  claim  that 
the  course  of  centuries  have  given  to  the  cosmopolitan  Roman  Church 
a  prescription  in  and  to  Rome,  such  as  no  body  or  corporation,  local 
or  national,  civil,  religious,  or  political,  ever  gained  by  lapse  of  time  be- 
fore. They  claim  that  the  locality,  whatever  its  limits,  whether  the 
walls  of  Rome  or  the  ever-shifting  and  uncertain  boundaries  of  a  civil 
State,  which  is  so  fox-tunate  as  to  enclose  this  capital  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal world,  is  so  unfortunate  or  so  blessed,  as  they  may  choose  to  think 
it,  as  to  hold  it  in  trust.  This  is  not  all.  They  claim,  further,  that 
the  proper  exercise  of  the  functions  of  the  headship  of  the  Church  re- 
quires a  temporal  sovereignty,  with  an  adequate  extent  of  territory  and 
population,  and  resources  of  wealth  and  strength  ;  and  they  say  that 
the  same  time-honored  prescription  has  given  the  Church  this  temporal 
sovereignty,  with  its  territory  and  people.  They  say  that  this  temporal 
kingdom  is  not  the  State  of  the  Pope,  but  the  State  of  the  Catholic 
Church. 

I  have  endeavored  to  present  this  argument  fairly.  I  know  there  is 
another  argument,  based  on  a  claim  of  a  kind  of  divine  rigid  to  entire 
temporal  sovereignty,  with  territory  and  population,  having  its  sanction 
inforo  conscientice,  the  unbelief  in  which  is  heresy,  and  the  disallow- 
ance of  which  is  sacrilege.  But  this  is  an  argument  I  do  not  propose 
to  meet,  nor  do  I  feel  able  to,  if  even  I  can  understand  it.  I  attempt 
only  to  consider  the  argument  which  tells  on  the  world,  and  comes 
within  the  scope  of  mundane  affairs. 

Is  there  not  some  mingling  of  fact  with  fancy,  of  history  with  ima- 
gination, of  pious  hope  with  actual  realization,  in  the  statements  on 
which  this  argument  rests  ? 

Take  first  the  most  important  branch  of  it, — the  temporal  sovereign- 
ty. How  long  and  how  continuously  has  the  Pope  been  a  sovereign  ? 
Was  not  the  bishop  of  Rome  for  ages  a  subject  of  an  absolute  State  ': 
Was  he  not  a  vassal  of  successive  sovereigns,  in  the  feudal  sense,  for 
many  centuries  ?     Is  not  the  very  idea  of  an  absolute  temporal  sove- 


LETTERS.  113 

reignty  a  modern  idea,  an  idea  the  dale  of  whose  origin  we  know  ? 
And  since  the  Pope  has  had  a  temporal  sovereignty  over  I  vine  and  a 
considerable  territory  about  Rome,  what  bad  this  so vereignty  been,  in 
tart?  Has  it  secured  him  independence  in  the  exercise  of  his  func 
tions  ?  Has  it  not  been,  for  five  centuries,  a  capital  question  of  Euro- 
pean policy  and  strife, — which  sovereign  of  Europe,  whose  battalions, 
whose  bayonets  shall  hold  the  coveted  prize  ?  Has  it  not  been  a  ques- 
tion  to  be  decided  by  Henry  IV.,  Guizcard,  Rienzi,  successive  Roman 
republics,  the  Constable  de  Bourbon,  the  French  republic,  the  Allies, 
Napoleon  L,  Mazzini,  the  Austrians,  and  Napoleon  III.  ? 

How  would  it  be  likely  to  be,  now  and  hereafter,  if  the  Pope  were  to 
be  reinstated  in  a  temporal  sovereignty  over  Rome  and  the  territory 
about  it  '?     The  physical  forces  of  Europe  at  the  disposal  of  States  and 
sovereigns  are  totally,  wonderfully  changed  !      No  less  have  States  and 
sovereignties  changed  !      There  was  a  time  vi  leu  movements  were  sio'W  . 
States  small,  armies  small,  campaigns  protracted,  walled  towns  safe,  the 
cost  of  war  inconsiderable,  and  the  disproportion  between  States  by  no 
means  decisive.   In  those  days  the  Pope,  as  a  temporal  sovereign,  at  the 
centre  of  Italy,  with  two  or  three  millions  of  people  and  fifteen  thousand 
square    miles  of  territory,   five    ships  of  war   and   an  army  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  with  neighbors  in  Italy  not  greatly  superior  to  himself 
in  military  resources,  and  some  who  were  inferior,  might  sometimes  be 
reasonably  safe  against  any  one  power,  what  with  force  and  what  with 
diplomacy;   I mt  not  usually  so,  even  then.     But  all  this  has  gone  by. 
Now,  nationalities  are   vast,  armies   stupendous,  revenues   enormous, 
movements  electric,  and  a  small  sovereignty,  like   thai  of  the  Pope,  is 
practically,  in  the  physical  and  temporal  sense,  powerless;  and  it   is  to 
the  physical  and    temporal   sense   that   this   argument   for    a    temporal 
sovereignty  is  addressed.      As  the  head  of  a  physical   force,  whether  <>f 
men  o)-  money,  drawn  from  his  own  territories,  taken  at  the  largest,  the 
Pope  i>  now   nothing. 

As  a  further  consideration,  is  it  true  that  the  Pope  has  been  upheld 
in  his  sovereign  independence  by  an  equal  or  impartial  contribution  of 
physical  power  from  the  States  <»f  Catholic  Christendom?  Never. 
'I'll,-  question  lias  been  between  Austrian  bayonet.-, and  French  bayonets. 
What  diaie,  under  tliis  scheme  of  temporal  sovereignty,  has  been  given 
to,  or  can  be  exercised  by,  the  Roman  Catholics  of  the  United  States,  or  anj 
part  of  the  Noii  1 1  American  continent,  or  of  Asia,  or  bj  the  smaller  Roman 
Catholic  States  of  Europe,as  Bavaria,  Spain,  Portugal,or  l>\  Greal  Bri- 
tain, or  ( rermany,  or  Russia,  in  behalf  of  their  numerous  Roman  '  latholic 
populations?     And  among  the  few  greal  Catholic  powers  themselves, 

it    i;-,   impossible   thai    their   jealousies  and  exigencies  Should    permit    them 

to  maintain  fairly  balanced  contributions  of  physical  force  at    Rome. 


114  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Experience  lias  shown  this  to  be  impracticable.  The  very  existence  of 
this  temporal  sovereignty,  straining  to  be  a  physical  power,  creates  a 
new  cause  of  jealousy  and  strife,  and  leaves  it  ultimately  in  the  hands 
of  the  strongest,  to  the  dissatisfaction  and  disadvantage  of  all  others. 

The  historv  of  five  centuries  entitles  us  to  the  belief  that  the  head  of 
the  Roman  Church  will  be  able  to  exercise  his  spiritual  functions  with 
more  independence,  and  far  more  to  the  satisfaction  and  peace  of  the 
powers  of  Christendom,  if  he  abandons  altogether  the  attempt  to  hold  in 
his  hands  a  physical  power  adequate  to  protect  himself  against  force.  Cer- 
tainly we  know  that  he  can  hold  no  such  adequate  power.  If  he  cannot 
govern  a  cosmopolitan  Church  unless  he  has  bayonets  enough  to  defend 
himself  against  bayonets,  he  cannot  do  it  at  all. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  that  part  of  the  claim  which  is  drawn  from  the 
relations  of  Roman  Catholic  Christendom  to  Rome  as  its  own  creation, 
and  properly  subject  to  its  pious  uses.  If  the  Romans  had  proposed  to 
put  an  end  to  all  "this,  or  to  vote  these  means  to  themselves  as  theirs, 
the  question  would  be  a  fair  one.  If  Italy  proposed  to  do  so,  it  would 
present  the  objections  in  their  fullest  force.  But  it  is  not  so.  Rome 
and  Italy  acknowledge  the  trust.  It  is  a  case  of  adjustment  of  moral 
claims.  Italy  admits  some  claim  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Israel  to  its  Je- 
rusalem and  temple,  its  feasts  and  sacrifices.  It  proposes  to  provide  for 
them  and  to  insure  them.  It  is  itself  a  part  of  this  Israel.  Italy  is  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  whose  territory  surrounds  the  temple  and  the  sacred 
city,  and  which,  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  has  given  to  it  all  its 
chief  pastors. 

Although  the  argument  for  Italian  Unity  drawn  from  geography  alone, 
or  from  ethnology  alone,  is  imperfect,  and   against  strong  moral  claims 
would  be  of  little  force,  yet  a  claim  based  on  history,  geography,  race,  con- 
venience, and  sentiment  all  combined,  is  of  prodigious  power.  Such  is  the 
claim  of  Italy  and  the  people  of  Rome,  to  have  a  United  Italy  with  Rome 
for  its  capital.  And  here  I  leave  out  a  strong  argument, — that  drawn  from 
the  alleged  incapacity  of  the  ecclesiastical  rulers  to  govern  satisfactorily 
the  people  of  Rome  itself,  and  their  unwillingness  to  allow  the  Romans 
freedom  and  self-government.     Let  this  pass  as  a  disputed  point.     Let 
the  case  be  considered  as  simply  a  conflict  of  two  great  claims,  involv- 
ing the  interests  and  feelings  of  the  greater  part  of  Christendom.     On 
the  one  hand,  the  Roman  Catholic  world  in  all  nationalities   claims 
rights  in  Rome,  in  St.  Peter's,  in  their  glories,  conveniences,  and  ad- 
vantages.    On  the  other,  Italy,  including  Rome,  claims  rights  in  Rome; 
as  a  part  of  Italy,  and  as  its  capital.      The  first  is  based  on   long  pre- 
scription, on  foundations  and  contributions,  on  the  natural  right  to  use 
its  own  creature.  The  other  is  founded  on  geography,  history,  race,  lan- 
guage and  convenience.    Each  appeals  deeply  and  strongly  to  sentiment, 


LETTERS.  115 

The  question  is  now  reduced  to  this  :  Shall  the  latter  claim  be  totally 
disallowed,  or  shall  the  two  be  adjusted  ?  If  they  can  be  adjusted  they 
should  be.  The  Italians  propose  an  adjustment.  This  adjustment  ne- 
cessarily puts  an  end  to  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Pope,  in  any 
large  and  practical  sense.  We  endeavored  to  show  that  so  far  as  this 
sovereignty  ever  had  an  existence  for  much  practical  purpose,  its  days 
of  usefulness  are  numbered,  whether  Rome  becomes  part  of  Italy  or  not. 
But,  in  other  regards,  the  Italian  plan  respects  and  endeavors  to  accom- 
modate these  claims.  If  practicable,  it  certainly  is  a  glorious  consum- 
mation, most  devoutly  to  be  wished. 

I  believe  Italy  maybe  united  ;  that  Rome  may  be  the  capital  of  Italy  ; 
and  that  the  Romans  may  be  part  of  a  great  nationality,  under  a  consti- 
tutional monarchy,  or  under  whatever  other  form  the  Italians  may  cause 
their  sovereignty  to  take.  At  the  same  time,  the  head  of  the  Church 
may  have  a  spacious  and  glorious  quarter  of  Rome,  in  which  is  contained 
that  great  monument  of  the  zeal  and  munificence  of  Christendom,  St. 
Peter's,  with  the  Vatican  and  the  Castle.  The  exact  terms  are  not  set- 
tled, and  may  be  subjects  of  alteration  and  accommodation.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that  the  purpose  is  that  Italy  shall  guaranty  to  the  Pope 
the  free  and  independent  exercise  of  his  ecclesiastical  functions,  with 
the  appropriate  opportunities  and  conveniences  therefor ;  and  that 
those  of  all  nations  who  claim  rights  in  the  Pope,  and  in  the  great 
edifices,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  offices  of  religion  there,  and  of 
the  functions  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  there,  shall  not  be  hindered 
therein. 

But  it  is  said  that  there  is  no  certainty  attending  this  guaranty. 
What  degree  of  certainty  does  a  spiritual  body  require,  which  believes 
itself  to  have  the  divine  promise,  power,  and  grace?  This  guaranty 
has  a  promise  of  as  much  certainty  as  the  Church  can  expect  from  human 
institutions,  of  more  than  it  has  obtained  from  its  own  arm  of  flesh. 
When  the  irritations  and  excitements  of  this  revolution  have  gone  by, 
the  Italians  will  be  proud  that  with  them  resides  the  head  of  a 
Church,  and  that  under  their  protection  are  left  these  great  jurisdictions 
and  charities  and  ceremonies,  to  which  so  large  parts  of  the  world 
go  up,  and  which  will  continue  to  add  so  much  to  the  splendor  and 
prosperity  of  their  capital.  They  will  know  that  if  they  do  not  execute 
their  trust  with  fidelity,  it  may  pass  from  them.  The  States,  not  i,{' 
Europe  alone,  but  of  Christendom,  will  maintain  a  watch  over  the  con- 
dud  of  ltal\.  They  will  have  a  right  to  do  so.  They  will  be  the 
visitors  of  this  cosmopolitan  CHARITY,  with  greal  moral  influence,  a 
consta.nl  righl  to  advise  and  mediate,  and,  it  may  he,  if  they  chooso 
to  exert  it,  a  righl  of  intervention. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  there  is  a  kind  of  glamour  over  this  Bubject 
8 


110  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

to  the  r      -  Iherents  of  the  Eomaii  Church.     Heated  declama- 

.  has  I  -  and   exciting  appeals  made,  and  anecdotes 

told  of  cardinals  insulted  and  htistled  in  th<     - n     ■-.  itae  de- 

faced, a  church  el   -      .       charity  appropri  ud  the  Holy  Father 

circumscribed  in  his  motions  f'-om  fear.  Has  not  tL-  Pop  suffered  much 
more  than  I  -  liings  under  his  own  temporal  sovereignty ':  Has  he 
not  been  a  prisoner  or  an  If  all  this   _  true,  and 

none  of  it  evenexaggerat*    .    "  -  no  more  or  worse 

in  the  interregnum  of  revolution,  it  augurs  well  for  Italy  when  govern- 
ment shall  be  confirmed,  and  custom  and  habit  have  settled  down  npon 
ieople  and  ecclesiastics  alike. 
1  fear  I  may  have  tried  the  patience  of  any  who  may  have  read  this 
so  far.     It  maybe  that  some  thing-   I   say  are  not  well-tim 
and  much  may  be  needless.     But  1  have  felt  that  thes        .^derations  are 
--      ntribution  it  is  in  my  power  to  bring  to  the  cause     E  B   man 
freedom  and  Italian  "Unity,  a  cause  1  -         _  hold  on  my  a£ 

tions,     sped         eus  I  hav-  had  a  glimpse  of  Italy  at   critical   mo- 

ments    -  straggle  - 

I  t  _    honor  to  be.  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

Richard  H.  Dana.  Jr. 


ADDRESSES 


INTRODUCTORY    ADDRESS    OF    THE    HON.    JOHN    A.    DIX, 
PRESIDENT    OF    THE   MEETING. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen — Two  hundred  and  seventy-five  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  the  Republic  of  Rome,  after  nearly  live 
centuries  of  conflict,  succeeded  in  extending  its  dominion  over  all 
Italy  ;  and  from  that  epoch  may  be  dated  the  beginning  of  its 
triumphant  march  to  universal  empire.  After  the  lapse  of  more 
than  two  thousand  years,  modern  Italy,  the  successor  of  the 
ancient,  is  celebrating  a  similar  event— the  union  of  its  entire 
domain  under  one  political  government  ;  and  it  must  be  the 
cordial  wish  of  every  one,  who  is  familiar  with  the  ills  that  classic 
land  has  suffered  during  the  last  few  centuries,  that  this  consoli- 
dation of  its  temporal  power  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  career 
worthy  of  the  empire  which  it  succeeds— not  in  conquest,  but  in 
literature  and  art,  and  liberal  institutions. 

It  is  but  a  few  years  since  the  territory  which  now  constitutes 
the  kingdom  of  Italy  was  shared  by  a  multiplicity  of  several  sov- 
ereignties. Sardinia,  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Tuscany,  the  Two 
Sicihes,  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  several  other  minor  divi- 
sions have  disappeared,  and  all  are  united  under  one  political 
head.  This  reconstruction  of  the  political  elements,  accomplished 
almost  without  bloodshed,  has  given  the  new  State  an  honorable 
rank  among  the  other  nations  of  Europe  ;  and  out  of  this  unity 
have  grown  the  extirpation  of  jealousies  and  rivalry,  a  respectful 
consideration  abroad,  and  the  strength  at  home  which  is  the 
fruit  of  a  common  sympathy  in  interest  and  feeling. 

In  this  consolidation  of  separate  States  the  people  of  all  have 
concurred  -not  with  coldness  or  indifference,  but  with  an 
enthusiasm  nearly  universal.  They  see  in  the  future  an  exemp- 
tion from  the  distractions  which  have  weakened  and  impover- 
ished them,  and  they  believe  they  see  also  the  reproduction  of 
something  of  the  national  power  and  prosperity  of  the  past. 

It  Is  only  in  one  quarter  in  Italy  that  its  unity  has  encountered 
opposition  and    engendered    hostile  feeling.      A  small  portion  ot 


118  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

the  secular  adherents  of  the  Church  of  Rome  regard  the  separa- 
tion of  the  temporal  from  the  ecclesiastical  power  as  a  spoliation 
and  a  crime.     But,  fellow-citizens,  he  who,  in  the  vicissitudes  of 
human  government,  has  the  exercise  of  temporal  sovereignty  cast 
upon  him,  must  take  it  with  the  responsibilities  and  hazards  in- 
cident to  it — with  the  danger  of  having  it  wrested  from  him  by 
foreign  conquest,  or  of  being   divested  of  it   by  the   uprising  of 
those  who  are  subjected  to  it,  when  they  feel  that  their  welfare  or 
their  freedom   will   be   promoted   by  the  change.      It   is  to  this 
larger  popular  sovereignty  that  the  temporal  power  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  has  given  place.     The  people  of  the  Papal   State  have 
changed    their    political    ruler    by   an    overwhelming    majority 
of  votes — I  may  say,  with  a    unanimity  unparalleled  in  the  an- 
nals of  popular  suffrage.     At   Rome,  the  seat   of  the  temporal 
power  of  the   Church,  in  40,881  votes  there  were  only  46  in  the 
negative,  and  the  same    unanimity  was  shown    by  the  vote  of 
the  provinces.     In  all  this  the  people  have  but  exercised  aright, 
which  we  and  the  friends  of  free  government  throughout  the 
world  hold  to  be  inalienable.  It  is  needless  to  add,  what  all  know, 
that  there  has  been  no  period  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century 
when  the  people  of  Rome  would  not  have  asserted  thfs  right,  if 
they  had  not  been  restrained  by  foreign  bayonets.     We,  whose 
ancestors  were  borne  down,  during  their  colonial  dependence,  by 
the  armed  hirelings  of  Great  Britain,  well  know  how  to  appreci- 
ate the  value  of  such  a  deliverance. 

The  Parliament  of  Italy  is  now  busy  with  the  measures  of 
legislation,  which  have  become  necessary  to  fix  the  demarcations 
of  power  under  the  new  political  regime.  I  have  seen  a  synopsis 
of  the  law  under  discussion.  It  surrounds  the  Church  with  all 
the  safeguards  essential  to  its  perfect  security  and  independence 
in  the  exercise  of  its  ecclesiastical  functions;  and  it  provides  for 
the  personal  comfort  of  the  Pontiff  with  the  tenderness  due  to  a 
venerable  prelate,  who,  in  his  private  life,  has  given  to  the  world 
an  example  of  simplicity  and  purity  worthy  of  universal  applause. 
It  could  not  well  be  otherwise,  when  the  late  Roman  State  has 
fifteen  representatives  in  the  Parliament,  and  when  a  vast  ma- 
jority of  the  body  are  of  the  Church's  own  religious  creed. 

One  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the  beneficent  influence 
of  the  union  of  the  Italian  States  is  the  recognition  of  the  right 
of  every  man  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own 


RESOLUTIONS.  119 

conscience.  In  every  portion  of  the  new  State— in  the  capital  as 
well  as  the  provinces — Romanism  and  Protestantism  may  stand 
side  by  side,  as  here  and  in  nearly  every  country  in  Europe,  and 
labor  to  advance  the  cause  of  religion  without  danger  of  inter- 
ference or  collision.  En  a  word.  United  Italy  presents  to  us  what 
we  consider  ad  that  is  most  precious  in  human  government — a 
free  Church  in  a  free  State. 

I  have  referred  thus  briefly  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Italian 
States,  that  the  object  of  this  meeting  may  be  the  better  under- 
stood. It  is  to  cheer  them  on  in  their  new  career  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious freedom  by  an  expression  of  our  sympathy,  in  which  I 
sincerely  believe  seven-eighths  of  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States  will  concur;  to  re-echo  the  cry, — which  resounded  through- 
out the  Roman  territory  when  the  plebiseitum,  was  in  progress, 

"Viva  Roma,  Capitalc  d'ltalia  ! "  to  hail  United  Italy  as  the 
era  of  a  larger  and  more  diffusive  charity,  under  the  influence  of 
which  religious  societies  may  be  willing  to  give  up  something  of 
their exclusiveness  for  the  sake  of  coming  into  closer  communion 
with  each  other,  and  which  shall  make  every  man  who  bears  the 
name  of  Christian  feel  at  home  in  any  temple  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  his  Maker. 

And  iu  conclusion,  we  are  here,  fellow-citizens,  to  express  the 
hope  that  there  may  be  no  cause  in  the  future  to  wish,  with  Fili- 
eaja  and  Byron,  that  Italy  were  "less  lovely  or  more  powerful," 
but  that  she  may,  in  her  new  estate,  become  so  prosperous  and 
strong  that  neither  Gaul  nor  Teuton  shall  ever  dare  to  tread  her 
sacred  soil  again,  except  in  friendly  companionship. 

The  address  of  the  President  was  frequently  interrupted  by  enthusi 
astic  applause. 


The  following  resolutions,  prepared  by  the  Committee,  were  pie 
s< inted  :  * 

RESOLUTIONS. 

I.  Whereas,  The  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Popesoverthe  Roman 
people  w..s  the  growth  of  the  same  circumstances  and  conditions,  from 
which  other  absolute  Governments  arose  during  the  feudal  ages;  and 

Whereas,  Tin's  Government,  having  the  same  origin,  must  be  Bubject 

'CoMmttteeoh  tiii.  Resolutions  ind  the  Address  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  People  of  [taly:-  -Parke  Godwin,  Esq.;  Rev.  .).  P.  Thompson, 
!>.!>.,  LL.D.  ;    V.  Uotta,  Ph.D. 


120  UNITY    OF   ITALY. 

to  the  same  conditions  to  which  any  other  Government  is  subject,  and 
the  same  obligations  by  which  any  other  Government  is  bound ;  and 

Whereas,  With  the  growth  of  intelligence  and  of  the  spirit  of  liberty, 
the  Roman  people,  from  age  to  age,  have  protested  against  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Pope  in  civil  affairs ;  now  by  the  voice  of  heroic  leaders, 
and  again  by  popular  revolutions,  which  have  many  times  driven  out 
the  Pope  from  Rome  ;  and 

Whereas,  In  1849,  when  the  Pope  had  abandoned  Rome,  leaving  the- 
Government  without  a  head,  a  Constituent  Assembly,  elected  by  univer- 
sal suffrage  in  the  Roman  States,  declared  the  secular  Government  of 
the  Papacy  abolished,  and  "  proclaimed  that  portion  of  central  Italy, 
which  had  hitherto  been  the  patrimony  of  Popes,  a  free  and  independent 
Republic,"  which  was  only  overthrown,  and  the  subsequent  rule  of  the 
Pope  restored  and  maintained,  by  foreign  bayonets  ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  in  voting  to  unite  themselves  to  the  Constitutional 
Government  of  Italy,  the  people  of  Rome  have  been  true  to  the  spirit 
of  their  history  as  manifested  against  the  temporal  power  of  the  Popes 
since  the  beginning  of  its  encroachment  upon  popular  liberties  and 
rights. 

2.  Whereas,  The  temporal  Government  of  the  Church  of  Rome  had 
long  made  itself  insupportable  to  its  subjects  by  a  system  of  policy 
which,  in  1815  and  1831,  called  forth  remonstrances  from  the  Powers 
that  restored  the  Pope  ;  and  again,  also,  repeated  and  earnest  entreaties 
from  the  late  Government  of  Prance  ;  and  which  has  been  grievously 
deplored  by  eminent  and  saintly  Roman  Catholic  clergymen — as  Lacor- 
daire,  Rosmini,  Gioberti,  Dollinger,  and  many  others  ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  we  congratulate  the  Roman  people  upon  their  deliver- 
ance from  this  oppressive  yoke,  and  that  Austria  and  France  having 
been  led  by  the  course  of  events  to  abandon  intervention  as  impolitic 
and  wrong,  they  now  find  in  the  Government  of  Italy  a  pledge  of  the 
enjoyment  of  political  and  religious  liberty  under  constitutional  forms. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  congratulate  them  also  that  this  great  revolu- 
tion has  been  accomplished  at  so  little  cost  of  life,  and  that  they  have 
refrained  from  any  acts  of  violence  toward  the  representatives  of  the 
late  Government,  or  the  ecclesiastics  who  were  identified  with  it,  and 
from  any  disrespect  or  hindrance  whatever  to  the  Pope  in  his  religious 
character  and  office. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  doctrine  of  the  Declaration  of  Tndependence, 
that  "Governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed,  and  are  instituted  to  secure  the  rights  of  all  to  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,'''  can  admit  of  no  exception  in  favor  of  an 
ecclesiastical  Government  wielding  the  civil  power. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  docti-ine  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 


ADDRESS    OF   DR.    THOMPSON.  1 2  1 

thai  "  whenever  any  form  of  Government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  insti- 
tute a  new  Government,  having  its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and 
organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to 
effect  their  safety  and  happiness,"  finds  in  the  rejection  of  the  Papal 
Government  by  the  Roman  people,  and  (heir  choice  of  the  free  Consti- 
tutional Government  of  Italy,  an  illustration  that  should  receive  the 
warm  approval  and  admiration  of  the  American  people. 

6.  Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  religions  liberty  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  political  liberty,  and  political  liberty  to  religious  liberty,  and  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State  is  necessary  to  the  complete  indepen- 
dence and  the  rightful  and  effective  administration  of  either,  we  rejoice 
that  the  example  of  the  United  States,  in  abolishing  all  religious  bur- 
dens and  restraints,  has  been  followed  in  Austria,  Italy,  and  Ireland, 
and  now  at  last  in  Rome;  that  we  honor  the  jealous  care  with  which 
the  Government  of  Italy  has  guarded  the  personal  liberties  and  rights 
of  the  Pope,  and  are  assured  that  by  the  substitution  of  freedom  for 
force,  and  of  popular  rights  for  princely  prerogatives,  both  State  and 
Church  will  minister  to  the  highest  well-being  of  a  now  emancipated 
and  united  nation. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  principle  of  national  unity,  which  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  established  at  the  cost  of  so  much  treasure  and 
blood,— which  has  been  the  aspiration  of  the  mind  of  Italy,  as  expressed 
in  her  literature,  from  Dante  to  Alfieri,  Giordani,  Leopakdi,  and 
NICCOLINI,  and  in  the  policy  of  her  greatest  statesmen,  from  her  earliest 
patriots  to  Cavour, — a  principle  necessary  to  the  development  of  the  re- 
sources and  culture  of  a  nation  in  the  higher  civilization, — gives  to  the 
Italian  nation,  of  which  the  people  of  Rome  are  properly  an  integral  part, 
the  righf  to  possess  Rome  as  their  Capital,  with  an  undivided  sovereign- 
ty— a  measure  acquiesced  in  by  all  the  powers  of  Europe  ;  and  that  the 
presence  in  that  Capital  of  an  essentially  hostile  Power,  claiming  inde- 
pendent sovereignty,  would  be  incompatible  with  the  independence  of 
tli"  nation,  and  its  position  among  the  tier  peoples  of  the  world. 


ADDRESS    OF  REV.   JOSEPH  P.   THOMPSON.    D.D.,  LL.D. 

I  rise,  Mr.  President,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee  charged 
with  the  preparation  of  Resolutions!' for  this  meeting,  to  submil 
the  result  of  their  labor-,  accompanied  with  a  few  words  of 
explanation.  The  Committee  have  given  to  the  Resolutions  much 
patienl  though!  ;  having  in  view  three  objects:  first,  a  succincl 
recital  of  the  facte  of  the  case,  as  a  basis  for  the  address  to  the 
government    and   people  of  Italy,  which   yon  will   presently  be 


122  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

• 

called  upon  to  adopt  ;  next,  the  declaration  of  those  distinctive 
American  principles  which  the  action  of  the  people  of  Home 
has  once  more  made  conspicuous  before  the  civilized  world  ; 
and  thirdly,  the  expression  of  onr  congratulations  to  the  people 
of  Italy,  and  especially  the  people  of  Rome,  in  terms  that  befit 
the  people  of  the  United  States  as  the  foremost  representatives 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

For  the  first  point,  the  foots  embodied  or  assumed  in  the  Reso- 
lutions, inasmuch  as  authorities  cannot  here  be  cited  in  detail,  I 
will  only  say  that  for  every  statement  which  they  have  made  the 
Committee  hold  themselves  responsible  to  the  judgment  of  candid 
and  enlightened  students  of  history  in  this  country  and  abroad. 
As  to  the  second  point,  the  Committee  feel  confident  that  they 
have  set  forth  the  true  principles  of  the  American  people,  in  op- 
position to  the  attempt  to  manufacture  an  American  sentiment 
in  favor  of  a  political  despotism  wielded  in  the  name  of  the 
Church.  And,  as  a  sequel  to  this,  our  congratulations  to  the 
people  of  Rome,  especially,  should  take  also  the  form  of  gratitude 
for  the  service  they  have  rendered  to  the  cause  of  religious 
liberty  throughout  the  world.     [Applause.] 

The  Resolutions  will  be  found  to  be  constructed  upon  a  philo- 
sophical order  of  thought.  The  first  of  the  series,  with  its  pre- 
ambles, brings  the  temporal  government  of  the  Pope  within  the 
category  of  all  earthly  human  governments,  as  bound  by  the 
same  conditions,  and  subject  to  the  same  fortunes.  The  claim 
that  Rome  is  a  fief  of  the  Church,  and  as  such  must  be  held  for 
the  whole  Catholic  world,  without  respect  to  the  wishes  or  the 
welfare  of  the  Roman  people,  has  no  foundation  in  historical  fact 
or  in  political  philosophy.  The  donation  of  Pepin  in  the  eighth 
century,  of  which  so  much  is  made  as  the  foundation  of  the 
Temporal  Power,  was  not  a  grant  to  the  Pope  of  allodial  sove- 
reignty over  Rome  and  its  population,  but  a  gift  "  to  the  Pope 
and  the  Roman  Republic'1 — that  is,  to  the  Pope,  the  Senate,  and 
the  people  of  Rome — of  a  territory  which  a  military  conqueror 
had  wrested  from  their  hostile  neighbors  on  the  north;  and  long 
after  this  donation  the  Pope,  like  a  feudal  prince,  was  obliged  to 
make  his  allegiance  to  the  Emperor,  and  to  receive  from  him  the 
sanction  of  his  own  election. 

Besides,  in  no  event,  as  Lacordaire  has  so  well  said,  could  the 
people  be  the  subject  of  donation.     The  donation  of  Pepin  was 


ADDRESS    OF    DK.    THOMPSON.  L23 

the  gift  to  Rome  of  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna  ;  not  a  gift  of  Rome 
to  the  Pope.  The  Roman  people  were  not  handed  over  bodily 
to  the  Pope,  to  be  his  vassals  ;  and  it  was  only  by  a  long  series 
of  encroachments,  taking  advantage  of  political  factions,  the  feuds 
of  the  nobility,  and  the  fortunes  of  war.  that  the  Popes  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  establishing  their  political  absolutism.  Their 
Temporal  Power  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  abnormal  and  chaotic 
condition  of  society  in  feudal  times;  and  no  man  who  values 
the  principle  of  nationality,  the  rights  of  a  people  to  indepen- 
dent self-government,  or  the  progress  of  modern  society,  would 
dream  of  imposing  upon  a  people  forever  a  government  hostile 
to  their  wishes,  by  the  plea  that  such  a  government  was  set 
over  their  ancestors  bv  the  fortunes  of  war  a  thousand  years  ago. 
The  plea  refutes  itself  by  its  absurdity  ;  and  the  Papal  govern- 
ment cannot  claim  to  be  distinct  from  other  governments  born 
amid  the  conflicts  and  reprisals  of  feudal  times,  in  respect  either 
to  the  validity  of  its  title  or  the  inviolability  of  its  power.  It 
must  take  its  chances  with  other  antiquated  forms  of  absolutism 
at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  and  in  face  of  popular  revolution 
and  the  rising  sentiment  of  nationality.  Many  sincere  Roman 
Catholics,  who  attach  a  sanctity  to  the  person  and  office  of  the 
Pope  as  Head  of  the  Church,  can  perceive  in  this  secular 
power  which  grew  up  about  him  in  a  dark  and  disorganized 
state  of  society,  nothing  too  sacred  to  be  touched,  or  too 
venerable  to  be  overturned,  in  the  name  of  popular  liberty  and 
national  unity. 

We  are  not   assembled,  however,  to  try  the  government  of  the 
Pope.  That  has  been  tried  and  condemned  again  and  again  by  the 
people  of  Koine  ;  and  at  last  their  well-nigh  unanimous  judgment, 
against  it  has  been  executed  in  a  wav  that  is  Likely  to  stand.      A.S 
far  back  as  the  twelfth  century,  the  eloquent  monk,  Arnold  of 
Brescia,  went  through  the  State-  of  the  Church  insisting  that  the 
ecclesiastics  should  surrender  to  the   people  all  secular  property 
and  power  ;  for  a  time  the  people  of  Rome  set  up  a  government 
of  their  own  ;  but  Pope  Adrian  I  V..  having  got  hold  of  the  monk, 
quickly   silenced   his   voice  by  causing  him  to   he   burnt  at  the 
stake.     Other  cities  of  the  Papal  kingdom  by  degrees  regained 
Bome    measure  of  local    freedom;    and    almost    v\^\-\   succeed 
ing   century   has    been    marked    by    popular    tumults    and    up- 
risings in  the  States  of  the  Church  against  the  temporal  rule  of 

the    Pope. 


124  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Archbishop  Manning  computes  five-and- forty  Popes  that  before 
now  "  have  either  never  set  foot  in  Rome  or  have  been  driven 
out  of  it,"  and  he  admits  that"  nine  times  they  have  been  driven 
out  by  Roman  factions."  The  popular  uprisings  have  been  far 
more  numerous,  but  the,  admission  of  the  Archbishop  of  West- 
minster shows  how  restive  the  people  of  Rome  have  been  under 
the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope. 

Coming  down  to  our  own  century,  we  all  know  with  what  joy 
the  Roman  people  hailed   the  removal   of  the  Pope  from  Rome 
by  the  first  Napoleon,  and  with  what  aversion  they  regarded  his 
return  when  he  was  reinstated  by  the  allied  powers;  we  all  know 
that  since  1815  the  Pope  has  been  kept  in  his  seat  of  power  only 
by  foreign  bayonets  ;  that  the  repeated  attempts  of  the  people  to 
dislodge  him  have  been   foiled   by  foreign  intervention;  that  in 
1819,  the  people  having  insisted  that  the  reforms  which  Pius  IX. 
had  promised  should  be  carried  out  in  good  faith,  he  abandoned 
his  post,  and  the  representatives  of  the  people,  while  they  guar- 
anteed the  safety  of  the  person  of  the  Pope  and  the  sanctity  of 
his  spiritual  office,  vacated  his  secular  authority,  and  in   lieu  of 
it   established  a  Constitutional  Republic ;   we  all  remember  how 
that  Republic  was  put  down  by  the  treachery  and  violence  of 
Louis  Napoleon,  and  the  Pope  brought  back  and  forced  upon  the 
people  by  a  French  army ;  and  we  know  that  there  has  been  no 
time  in  the  last  twenty  years  when  the  Pope  could  have  remained 
in  Rome  as  King   by  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  or  would  have 
had  any  semblance  of  civil  power  but  for  the  bayonets  of  France. 
Popular  liberty,  held  down  at  Rome  by  foreign  military  force  for 
more   than  fifty  years,  the  moment  that  force  was  withdrawn, 
sprang  up  to  assert  itself  by  an  overwhelming  vote  against  the 
last  debris  of  the  institutions  of  the  Middle   Ages.     It  is  upon 
such   pregnant  facts   as    these— facts   that  show   how   long-con- 
tinued and  irreconcilable   has   been   the  antagonism  between  the 
Roman  people   and  the  Temporal  Power — that  we  base  the  first 
resolution  of  this  series. 

The  next  point  that  these  resolutions  make  is,  that  the  tempo- 
ral government  of  the  Popes  has  failed  to  answer  the  end  of  civil 
government, — the  well-being  of  its  subjects, — and  therefore 
its  subjects  were  justified  in  embracing  the  first  opportunity  to 
exchange  it  for  a  better.  The  historical  record  of  this  govern- 
ment gives  abundant  reason  to  the  friends  of  freedom  and  hu- 


ADDKE6S    OF   DR.    THOMPSON.  L25 

inanity  to  rejoice  in  it?  termination.     I  would  not  condemn   it 
because  of  the  scandals  that  in  former  ages  have  attached  to  the 
lives  of  individual  occupants  of  the  Holy  See.      That  there  have 
been  bad  men  among  the  Popes  everybody  knows,  as  well  as  that 
the  private'  life  of  the  present  Pope  is  without  a  stain.     But  the 
simony  and  nepotism  that  so  degraded  the  Papacy  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries  grew  out  of  the  temptations  of  the  Tem- 
poral Power.     As  no  Pope  could  found  a  dynasty  for  heirs  of  his 
own  body,  the  temptation  was  strong  to  human  ambition  to  pro- 
vide for  one's  kindred  with  the  spoils  of  office;  and  for  the  sake 
of  enriching  brothel's,  nephews,  or  illegitimate  sons.  Popes  divi- 
ded up  the  patrimony  of  the  Church,  or  made  war  upon  feeble 
provinces,  and   wrested  these  to   bestow    them    upon   favorites. 
Thus  Sixtus  IV.  gave  to  his  nephew  Riario  the  principalities  of 
Imola  and  of  Forli ;  Alexander  VI.,  to  his  son  Caesar  Borgia  the 
Duchv  of  Eomao-ua:  Julius  II.,  to  his  brother  the  Dnchv  of  Ur- 
bino  ;  Paul  III.,  Parma  and  Plaisance  .to  his  son  Farnese  :  and 
Julius  III.,  the  Duchy  of  Camerino  to  his  brother.     Later  Popes 
created  titles  of  nobility  for  their  relatives,  and  endowed   these 
from  the  civil  list,  and  so  luxury   and   corruption    entered    the 
Court  of  Pome  through  the  fascinations  of  the  Temporal  Power. 
Meanwhile  the  people  were  treated  like  dumb,  driven  cattle.   80 
many  and  grievous  were  their  oppressions,  that  the   venerable 
Cardinal  Sacchetti  remonstrated   by    letter  to   Pope    Alexander 
VII.  (15th  June,    L664),  against  the  "  taxes,  extortions,  rigor-, 
penalties,  vexations  and  cruelties"  to  which  the  unhappy  peopleof 
Pome  were  subjected,  as  "afflictions  which  exceeded  those  of  the 
people  of  God  in  Egypt,"  which  would  be;  "an  astonishinenl  and 
scandal  to  foreign  nations,"  and  which  made  "a  yoke  so  insup- 
portable," that  under  it  '-the  people  were  more  inhumanly  treat- 
ed than  the  slaves  of  Africa  and  Syria."      And  it  was  clearly  the 
opinion  of  Sacchetti  that  the  administration  of  Temporal  Power 
took  away  from  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  Holy  See  itself. 
But  such  remonstrances  wen;  of  little  avail;  and  so  grievouslj 
was  Rome  misgoverned,  that  even  when  the  freedom  of  cities  and 
republics  in   Italy  had  surrendered  to  the  petty  despotisms  thai 
parcelled  out  \\n-  noble  territory,  the  Papal  patrimony  was  noto 
riously  worse  governed  than  the  rest,  and   Rome  itself  worsl  <>i 
;ill  :     There  the  government  condemned  and  prohibited  liberty  of 
the  press,  liberty  of  religion,  liberty  of  conscience,  libertj  of  \»> 


126  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


litical  action,  liberty  of  speech,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  liberty  of 
thought  itself;  it  denied  to  the  people  not  only  the  right  of  po- 
litical representation,  but  even  the  privilege  of  political  remon- 
strance; it  deprived  them  of  all  those  guarantees  of  civil  rights 
which  are  recognized  throughout  the  civilized  world  ;  it  inflicted 
pains  and  penalties,  even  unto  death,  without  public  accusation, 
trial,  or  defence  ;  in  one  word,  this  government  has  kept  up,  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  methods  and  practices  of  the  middle 
ao-es.  So  insupportable  had  it  become  that,  for  half  a  century, 
its  subjects  have  been  in  a  chronic  state  of  revolt,  kept  down  only 
by  foreign  bayonets.  In  1831  several  provinces  revolted  from 
Gregory  XVI.,  but  they  were  subjugated  by  Austrian  arms.  In 
their  manifesto  they  indicted  the  Papal  government  for  oppres- 
sive laws  for  sanguinary  punishments,  for  domiciliary  visits,  and 
the  employment  of  spies  and  of  secret  tribunals;  for  tortures, 
cruelties,  proscription,  and  a  general  reign  of  terrorism. 

The  archives  of  the  Austrian  Government  found  at  Milan  and 
Venice  contained  reports  of  the  maladministration  of  the  Pon- 
tifical Government,  which,  coming  from  Roman  Catholics,  and 
the  agents  of  the  power  that  mainly  upheld  the  Pope  in  his  seat, 
are  entitled  to  the  highest  confidence.  These  reports  were  made 
public  by  Mr.  Eugene  Rendu,  a  Roman  Catholic  authority  ;  they 
state  that  justice  was  openly  sold  ;  that  contracts  made  by  the 
o-overnment  were  annulled  by  a  Pontifical  decree  without  respect 
to  the  rio-hts  of  the  contractors;  that  gendarmes  had  absolute 
power  to  arrest  any  one  on  bare  suspicion  ;  that  the  secret  tribu- 
nals were  active,  and  the  freedom  of  private  life  was  harassed 
by  most    oppressive  regulations;  that    the    government  was  "  a 

Turkish  theocracy  ! " 

The  government  of  Pius  IX.,  after  his  return  from  Gaeta,  was 
marked  by  the  same  odious  and  oppressive  policy.  Thousands 
of  the  best  citizens  of  Rome  were  driven  into  exile  ;  many  others 
languished  in  prison,  or  suffered  severe  penalties  for  the  offence 
of  sympathizing  with  the  Republic ;  and  even  the  French  com- 
mandant was  obliged  to  remonstrate  against  measures  of  pro- 
scription, for  which  he  was  not  willing  to  be  responsible  to  the 
public  sentiment  of  Europe.  The  wrongs  and  outrages  here- 
tofore perpetrated  under  the  Papal  Government  were  such,  that 
the  European  powers  which  had  reinstated  it  in  1815,  felt 
bound  to  unite  in  a  solemn  remonstrance  against  its  despicable 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    THOMPSON. 


127 


tyranny.  This  act  is  known  in  the  history  of  diplomacy  under 
tlie  name  of  the  memorandum  of  1831.  These  remonstrances 
were  repeated  over  and  over  by  France  since  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  Papal  power  in  1849.  Witness  the  famous  letter 
written  in  that  year  by  Louis  Napoleon,  when  he  demanded  from 
the  Pope  the  secularization  of  the  government,  the  promulgation 
of  the  code  of  Napoleon,  and  the  establishment  of  liberal  insti- 
tutions in  the  Roman  States  ;  and  from  1849  to  1870  it  may  be  said 
that  no  other  subject  has  occupied  so  long  the  earnest  attention  of 
French  diplomats  as  the  wretched  condition  of  the  Papal  Gov- 
ernment. See  the  great  number  of  diplomatic  circulars  written 
on  this  subject  by  such  statesmen  as  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  Lava- 
lette,  Thouvenel,  and  others,  who  cannot  certainly  be  accused 
of  an  excess  of  liberality.  But  all  remonstrances  were  in  vain, 
not  so  much  because  of  the  ill-will  of  Pius  IX.,  or  the  obstinacy  of 
his  counsellors,  asof  the  virus  of  tyranny  which  is  essentially 
inherent  in  the  Temporal  Power  of  a  sacerdotal  caste.  Count 
Rossi,  the  great  economist,  and  ambassador  of  France  to  Rome, 
as  early  as'the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Pius  IX.,  writing  to 
his  government,  had  truly  said:  "The  Temporal  Government  of 
the  Papal  States  cannot  become  a  modern  government,  that  is,  a 
government  of  publicity  and  discussion."-  -{Official  despatch,  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1818.)  And  sixteen  years  before,  writing  to  M.  Guizot, 
he  had  said  :  "Revolution,  in  the  sense  of  a  profound  incompati- 
bility between  the  Roman  Government  and  the  people,  has  pene- 
trated into  the  entrails  of  the  country  ;  any  contrary  opinion  is 
but  an  illusion."— (See  Guizot' $  Memoirs,  v.  II.) 

Indeed,  it  may  be  said  with  truth,  that  the  men  most  eminent 
for  learnino;  and  piety  in  the  Roman  Church  for  the  last  twenty 
years,  have  openly  denounced  the  Temporal  Power  ot  the  1  opes 
as  utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  great  principles  of  modern 
civilization,  as  well  as  with  the  true  interests  of  the  Church  itself. 
Among  these  was  Lacordaire,  the  eloquent  and  saintly  Domini- 
can, who  characterized  the  Papal  Government  as  belonging  to 
"  the  ancient  regime''  a  creature  of  the  feudal  ages,  irreconci- 
lable with  the  popular  rights  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of 
modern  society  ;  and  he  says  that  "since  1S15,  the  Papacy  has 
alienated  the  hearts  of  all  around  it.  and  has  found  its  safety  only 
in  compulsion  by  foreign  force.  Whether  I  regard  Italy  as  a 
nationality  evidently  oppressed,  or  from  the  point  of  the  Church, 


128  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

the  actual  state  of  things  is  intolerable,  and  one  must  wish  an 
end  of  it."— ^Letter  of  Pere  Lacordaire  to  Mons.  VAbbe  Per- 
reyre,  June,  1S59.) 

Of  the  same  opinion   was  Abbe  Rosmini,  a  great  philosopher 
and  theologian,  a  devout  priest,  the  founder  of  a  religious  Order, 
the  friend  of  Gregory  XVI.,  and  of  Pius  IX.,  by  whom  he  was 
cordially  received  as  an  ambassador  from  the  Government  of  Turin, 
and  afterwards  intrusted  with  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet  at  the  Vati- 
can.   That  learned  theologian  was  most  explicit  in  deploring  the 
baneful  effects  of  feudal  institutions  and  feudal  power  introduced 
into  the  Church.    (See  Le  Cinque  Pioghe  delta  Santa  Chiesadi 
Antonio  Bosmini.)    And  in  his  profound  work,  La  Filosofia  del 
Diritto,  while   he  is   very  minute  in    describing  all   the   rights 
which   in  his  theory  belong  to  the  Church,  and  which,  in  our 
opinion,  he  immensely  exaggerates,  he   makes  no  claim  for  the 
Church  to  any  right  which  would  involve  the  exercise  of  tempo- 
ral power.     Indeed  he  formally  excludes  it  by  insisting  over  and 
over  that  the  Church,  being  a  voluntary  association,  founded  on 
the  free-will  and  consent  of  the  faithful,  has  no  power  to  enforce 
its  creed  or  decrees  by  an  external  sanction,  which  belongs  only 
to  secular  governments.     In  1849,  being  charged  by  the  present 
Pope  to  prepare  a  draft  of  a  Federal  Constitution,  which  at  that 
time  he  thought  might  be  applied  to  the  Italian  States,  Rosmini 
drew  up  that  instrument  in  such  a  way  that,  while  it  would  have 
given  to  the  Pope  the  honorary  presidency  of  the  proposed  con- 
federation, it  would   have  taken  from  him  all  responsibilities  of 
civil   government,  which    experience   had  shown    irreconcilable 
with  the  rights  of  the  nation. 

In  support  of  our  resolutions  we  have  named  Gioberti  ;  he 
also  a  priest  intensely  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Church,  a 
patriot,  a  philosopher,  and  a  theologian.  It  was  he  who  gave 
the  first  impulse  to  that  movement  of  civil  reforms  which  Pius 
IX.  encouraged  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign.  In  view  of  the 
influence  that  the  Head  of  the  Church  might  exercise  on  the 
other  Italian  princes,  he  had  urged  the  Pope  to  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  that  movement;  Pius  IX.  seemed  to  yield  at  first; 
but  Gioberti  soon  found  that  his  scheme  was  impracticable,  and 
in  the  work,  II  Binnovamento  dPtalia,  which  he  published  in 
1851,  he  manfully  apologized  for  his  temporary  abandonment  of 

the  true  national  doctrine,  which  had  been  held  from  Dante  to 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    THOMPSON.  129 

Leopardi,  of  the  essential   incompatibility  of  the  Papal    power 
with  the   rights  of  the  nation.      lie   calls  the   Government   of 
Rome  "a  misgovern  men  t,  a  see-saw  between  tyranny  and  license, 
a  despotism  of  many  chiefs,  a  turbid  and  confused  oligarchy  of 
inept  and  corrupt  priests."       '' Under  pompous  names  and  titles 
there  is  in  that  government  a  languor  of  decrepit  age,  a  lethargy 
of  death,  a  decay  of  corruption. "     "  If  governments  are  made  for 
the  people,  and  not  the  people  for  governments,  how  can  we  call 
a  power  legitimate  and  Christian,  which  thus   crushes  its  own 
people? "    "  The  influence  of  the  Papal  Government  on  its  subjects 
is  baneful;  the  greatest  part  of  them  live  a  life  of  intrigue,  of 
imposture,  of  deception,  as  is  always  the  case  with  a  population 
of  slave-."    "  The  Papal  Government  is  not  only  the  open  enemy 
of  Italy,  as  it  is   obliged  to  depend  on  foreign  troops,  but  it  is 
not  less  obnoxious  to   the   interests   of  Christianity,  which  be- 
comes  responsible  for  the   outrages  committed  by  a  government, 
the  head  of  which  claims  to  be  the  Yicar  of  God  ;  a  government 
in  which  the  customs  are  more  corrupt,  the  laws  more  absurd, 
the  administration  more  iniquitous,  the  rulers  more  inept  than 
in  any  country,  Christian  or  pagan  ! "'     "  Many  of  those  who  rule 
in  the  name  of  the  Pope,  willingly  would  sell  not  only  the  city 
of  Rome,  as  in  the  time  of  Jugurtha,  but  indeed  the  very  temple 
of  God,  if  only  they  could  find  a  buyer.     Cardinal    Antonelli, 
who  for  the  last  two   years   has   mismanaged   everything  sacred 
and  profane,  is  not  so  blind  as  not  to  see  the  damage  his  policy 
inflicts  on  religion  ;  but  what  does  this  matter  to  him  as  long  as 
he  can  enjoy  his  income  and  benefits?"      Gioberti  goes  on  to 
show  that  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope,  far  from  being  an  in- 
strument of  spiritual   independence,  is  the  chain  which  ties  him 
to  the  throne  of  the  princes  who  support  him.     "  To  be  a  mas- 
ter he  must  be  a  slave."      "  Princes  do  not  come  to  kiss  his  toes. 
but  he  must  kiss  theirs  in  order  to  keep  up  his  temporal  establish- 
ment."    And  here  he  cites  the  example  of  Gregory  XVI.,  who. 
for  fear  of  the  Czar  of  Russia,  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  Catho- 
lics in    Poland,   and   to  enjoin    them   to  submit  to  order.-  which 
were  against  their  religious  liberties. 

The  authority  of  ot  her  eminent    men  in  the   Church  we  could 
adduce  in   condemnation  of  the  Temporal    Power;  such  as  Dr. 
Dollinger,   and    father  Passaglia,   who   was   not   long    since  re 
garded  in  the  Vatican  as  the  greatest  living  theologian  of  the  age. 


130  UNITY    OF     ITALY. 

and  whose  writings  greatly  contributed  to  the  establishment  of 
that  new  dogma,  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  Pius  IX.,  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  of  the  Mother  of  Jesus.  And  yet  this  devout 
priest,,  this  great  Doctor  of  Catholic  Theology,  as  soon  as  the  Ro- 
man question  arose,  boldly  came  out  as  a  champion  of  Italy, 
declaring  and  proving  in  many  admirable  writings  that  the 
Papal  government  was  a  scandal  of  civilization  as  well  as  of 
Christianity,  and  that  its  overthrow  would  be  a  blessing  not  only  to 
Italy  but  to  Europe  and  to  the  whole  Church.  Can  it  be  that  there 
are  Americans  so  debased  as  to  be  ready  to  uphold  in  a  foreign 
country  a  system  of  government  condemned  by  the  best  author- 
ities of  the  Church,  as  well  as  by  all  who  may  claim  to  repre- 
sent the  mind  of  the  age?     [Applause.] 

The  grievances  of  the  Roman  people  demanded  redress.  They 
would  have  justified  a  popular  revolution  at  any  moment  when 
there  was  a  prospect  of  its  succeeding.  Happily  for  the  people, 
happily  for  humanity,  happily  for  the  Church,  happily  for  the 
Pope  himself,  the  opportunity  came  to  the  Romans  to  secure 
political  freedom  and  civil  rights  without  a  bloody  revolution  ; 
and  they  have  shown  themselves  worthy  of  freedom  by  refraining 
from  deeds  of  violence  against  their  late  oppressors.  Every 
American  must  rejoice  that  they  are  free;  every  Christian  will 
rejoice,  in  the  name  of  religious  liberty,  that  in  assuming  their 
own  liberty  they  have  protected  ecclesiastical  persons  and  pro- 
perty, and  have  guaranteed  the  liberty  and  safety  of  Pontiff, 
Cardinals,  and  Priests. 

The  Resolutions  point  out  the  American  principles  which  this 
great  revolution  illustrates  :  for  the  issue  raised  by  those  who 
are  clamoring  for  the  restoration  of  the  Temporal  Power,  the 
issue  which  this  assembly  is  called  to  meet  to-night,  is  through- 
out an  American  issue.  Let  no  man  blink  the  real  question. 
The  Pope — who  has  been  so  deservedly  praised  for  his  private 
virtUes — is  entitled  to  praise  also  for  the  manly  utterance  of  his 
political  doctrines.  He  is  not  afraid  of  political  consequences  to 
himself  from  his  opinions  !  He  says  what  he  believes,  and  is  not 
intimidated  by  unpopularity.  He  believes  that  the  civil  govern- 
ment ought  to  enforce  the  decrees  of  the  Church,  and  he  says  so  ; 
he  believes  that  only  the  Church  should  legalize  marriage,  and  he 
says  so  ;  he  believes  that  the  Church  should  have  exclusive 
control  of  the  education  of  the  young,  and  he  says  so ;  he  believes 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    THOMPSON.  131 

that  public  schools  under  the  direction  of  the  State  are  mis- 
chievous, and  he  sajs  so  ;  lie  believes  that  the  doctrine  that  lib 
erty  of  conscience  and  of  worship  is  the  right  of  every  man  is  a 
damnable  heresy,  and  he  says  so  ;  all  this,  and  much  more  of  the 
same  sort,  he  has  said  in  his  Encyclical  Letter  and  Syllabus  of 
December  8th,  1864.  Every  one  of  these  things  which  he 
condemns  is  an  American  doctrine.  Now  let  us  be  true  to  our 
doctrines,  as  the  Pope  is  to  his.  He  condemns  and  anathema- 
tizes all  who  hold  doctrines  which  are  the  distinctive  creed  of 
the  American  people.  Let  us  assert  our  doctrines  in  face  of  his. 
and  fa-  his  anathemas  <>-ive  him  our  prayers  that  he  may  come  to 
our  way  of  thinking.     [Applause.] 

Does  any  man  intend  to  hold  back  from  the  American  doctrine 
upon  such  points  as  these?  Let  us  put  it  to  the  advocates  of 
the  Temporal  Power.  Do  you  believe  that  the  -people  should 
have  a  voice  in  the  government — should  be  free  to  choose  their 
rulers?     Or  ought  the  Eoman  people  to  be  kept  under  by  force? 

Do  you  believe  that  every  man  should  be  left  free,  without 
interference  from  the  State,  to  choose  his  religion?  Or  must 
people  in  Pome  have  their  religion  forced  upon  them,  and  their 
religious  acts  watched  by  the  police? 

Do  you  believe  that  the  State,  in  the  interest  of  social  order  and 
political  intelligence,  ought  to  provide  for  the  education  of  all  the 
children  within  its  limits?  Or  should  the  people  of  Koine  be 
doomed  to  keep  their  children  in  ignorance,  be  denied  schools, 
books,  newspapers,  except  as  these  are  under  the  direction  and 
control  of  ecclesiastics? 

Upon  these  great  fundamental  questions  of  American  society 
the  Pope  has  declared  himself  emphatically  against  American 
principles  ;  and  now  the  people  of  Pome  have  with  equal  empha 
sis  declared  themselves  for  our  American  principles;  and  the 
only  ipiestion  for  us  is,  whether  we  mean  to  stand  by  our  own 
principles.  We  have  a  right  to  demand  of  the  advocates  of  the 
Temporal  Power  a  categorical  answer  to  this  question  :  Are  yon 
in  favor  of  the  free  ballot,  a  free  press,  free  schools,  five  industry, 
i'vm;  locomotion,  free  speech,  free  worship,  five  homes  for  the 
people  of  Rome — or  would  yon  put  them  back  under  a  Power 
that  has  denied  all  these  things  to  them,  and  which  they  have 
now  repudiated  by  their  unanimous  voter  That,  is  a  question 
0 


132  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

that  concerns  us  as  Americans  ;  and  no  man,  prelate  or  politi- 
cian, should  be  suffered  to  blink  it.      [Applause.] 

It  is  pretended,  to  be  sure,  that  the  Roman  people  were  not 
free  in  their  choice  of  the  government  of  Italy; — that  "they 
were  forced  by  the  bayonet  to  accept  one  ruler  for  another." 
Were  they  forced  by  the  bayonet  in  1849  to  vote  that  the 
Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  was  abolished,  and  to  proclaim  a 
Republic?  Were  they  not  forced  by  French  bayonets  to  receive 
back  the  government  of  the  Pope,  and  has  not  that  government 
been  forced  upon  them  by  foreign  bayonets  ever  since?  lias  the 
Pope  ever  called  for  a  Plebiscite  upon  his  government  and  its 
acts?  [Applause.] 

We  are  told  that  "the  Plebiscite  was  a  farce  and  a  sham, 
enacted  under  the  influence  of  new  masters  at  the  head  of  victo- 
rious battalions."  But  the  people  of  Rome  voted  by  their  guilds, 
and  the  polls  were  kept  by  the  firemen  of  the  city,  Roman  civil- 
ians, and  there  was  no  military  interference  with  the  election. 

It  is  claimed  that  Rome  should  be  a  territory  apart,  in  order 
that  all  Roman  Catholics  can  have  unrestricted  access  to  the 
Head  of  their  Church.  But  the  gentlemen  who  make  this  claim 
will  find  that  they  never  before  were  so  free  in  Rome  as  they  can 
be  to-day.  They  can  go  and  come  as  they  please  ;  they  can  go 
and  pay  their  homage  to  the  Pope,  as  the  Head  of  their  Church, 
without  abandoning  or  suppressing  one  iota  of  their  principles  as 
Americans  ;  they  can  even  tell  him,  if  they  see  fit,  how  much 
better  is  freedom  than  force  for  the  Church  itself.  And  they 
need  now  have  no  fear  of  being  banished  Rome  for  saying  that. 
The  Pope,  with  an  ample  revenue,  a  personal  guard,  an  indepen- 
dent palace,  with  the  telegraph  and  post-office  at  his  command, 
is  as  free  as  he  himself  shall  choose  to  be. 

Yet  we  hear  the  cry  of  spoliation.  Spoliation  !  No  ;  Recov- 
ery, Restitution,  Redemption,  is  the  word.  The  whole  peninsu- 
la was  filled  with  sons  of  Rome,  in  exile  from  their  mother,  and 
these  formed  the  battalion  that  marched  to  her  deliverance,  car- 
rying freedom  to  their  own  households.  No  sooner  had  the  city 
capitulated  than  a  mother,  who  had  trained  her  son  to  liberty, 
knowing  that  he  would  be  in  the  army  of  deliverance,  hastened 
out  to  meet  him.  Alas,  he  was  the  first  who  fell  before  the 
walls,  and  she  found  only  his  lifeless  body.  But  the  incident  was 
typical  ;  and  hereafter  not  even  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi  shall 


ADDRESS    TO    THE    PEOPLE    OF    ITALY.  133 

be  more  honored  in  Roman  history  than  she.  Some  future 
painter,  transferring  to  canvas  this  great  event  of  the  century, 
the  Union  of  Rome  to  Italy,  shall  seize  upon  this  scene  of  the 
Roman  son  giving  life  to  his  mother  by  his  own.  as  interpreting 
the  true  meaning  of  the  event  itself— Redemption  by  sacrifice 
unto  a  new  and  higher  life.  That  life  is  to  come  through  a  Uni- 
ted Italy  ;  and  we  may  join  to-night  in  the  prophetic  hope  of  the 
government  of  Italy,  that  "  In  the  day  when  the  Pope,  yielding 
to  the  impulses  of  his  heart,  shall  remember  that  the  flag  which 
now  floats  over  Rome  is  the  same  that  he  blessed  in  the  first  days 
of  his  Pontifieate,  amid  the  enthusiastic  acclamations  of  Europe, 
— the  day  when  the  reconciliation  of  the  Church  an  d  th  State 
shall  be  proclaimed  at  the  Vatican, — the  Catholic  world  will 
acknowledge  that,  in  going  to  Rome,  Italy  performed  no  barren 
work  of  demolition,  but  that  the  principle  of  authority  shall  be 
re-established  in  the  eternal  city  upon  the  broad  and  solid  base 
of  civil  and  religions  liberty.1'     [Great  applause.] 

At  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Thompson's  address,  the  Resolutions  were 
put  to  vote  and  unanimously  adopted  with  great  applause. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  following 

ADDEKSS  TO  THE  GOVEKNMENT  AND  PEOPLE  OF  ITALY. 

We,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  have  long  stood  as  the  van- 
guard of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  whose  own  unity  has  been  wit  Inn 
a  few  years  so  gloriously  consummated, hail  with  a  peculiar  pleasure  the 
advent  of  Italy  to  Freedom  and  Unity.  Having  watched  \\  itli  the  keen- 
est sympathy  and  hope  the  patient  struggle  of  the  Italian  people  for 
their  emancipation,  having  shared  the  admiration  of  the  civilized  world 
for  the  vigor,  devotion,  and  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  by  which  that  snug- 
gle has  been  animated,  we  now  rejoice  with  them  in  the  final  fulfilment 
of  their  noble  and  patriotic  desires. 

Italy  is  at  last  free  !  Italy  is  at  last  one  !  Her  Nationality  is  . led.-, red  ; 
her  Governmenl  consolidated;  and  her  ancient  Capital,  so  long  with- 
held from  her  grasp,  is  once  more  restored  to  her  possession.  The  <  'it\ 
of  Rome,  so  dear  to  the  Italian  heart,  aolonger  a  rival  sovereignty, 
maintained  alone  by  foreign  arms,  now  stands  the  representative  of  the 

whole    Italian    people,  up  held  and    supported    by    the  tree    choice  ol    the 
Nation  ! 

In  this  greai  achievement  we  discern  not  only  a  solace  for  the  sorrows 

Of  the  past,  and   the  fruition  of  mans    noble  hope.,  I. ut    the  pledge  of  the 

grandesl  developments  in  the  future.   With  (he  rights  and  the  liberties 


134  UNITY     OF    ITALY. 

of  all  men  amply  secured  by  the  guarantees  of  a  Constitutional  Govern- 
ment ;  with  the  State  forever  separated  from  the  Church,  as  the  essen- 
tial guard  of  all  political  and  religious  progress ;  with  the  Sovereign 
Power  to  control  its  own  destinies,  resting  within  its  own  borders,  and 
among  its  own  free  and  equal  citizens,  we  ai-e  assured  that  the  people 
of  the  Peninsula  will  receive  a  new  and  beneficent  impulse  in  all  the 
elements  of  national  prosperity.  We  know,  from  our  own  experience, 
how  her  national  resources  will  be  developed,  how  her  industrial  ener- 
gies will  be  stimulated,  how  her  system  of  popular  education  will  be 
enlarged  and  perfected  ;  how,  the  need  of  revolutionary  ferments  being 
removed,  order  and  peace  will  be  everywhere  established  ;  and  how  a 
fresh  life  of  knowledge,  of  liberty  and  of  faith  infused  into  her  mem- 
bers will  work  out  a  glorious  redemption. 

In  this  belief,  we  again  congratulate  the  Government  and  the  people 
of  Italy  on  the  peaceful  triumph  of  the  national  cause,  and  bid  them  a 
God-speed  in  the  career  they  have  so  worthily  begun. 


ADDRESS  OF  PARKE  GODWIN,  ESQ. 

Mr.  Parke  Godwin,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  address, 
said  : — 

As  it  is  the  habit  of  royal  and  princely  families  to  celebrate 
a  son's  coming  of  age  with  festivities  and  rejoicings,  so  it  is  the 
practice  and  the  glory  of  our  country  to  welcome  the  advent  of  any 
people  to  an  independent  existence.  We  by  our  position,  as  the 
first  of  the  Free  Nations,  stand  as  the  godfathers  and  sponsors  of 
all  who  win  their  way  into  the  great  heritage  of  freedom.  We 
are  prompted  by  our  feelings  to  sympathize  in  their  desire  to 
attain  a  self-conscious  manhood  ;  we  are  pledged  by  our  prin- 
ciples to  encourage  their  efforts,  and  to  be  exceedingly  glad  when 
they  have  succeeded.     [Applause.] 

It  is  thus  that  we  have  successively  stretched  forth  our  hands 
to  the  tottering  South  American  republics,  when  they  broke  the 
leading-strings  of  European  dominion  ;  thus  we  sent  words  of 
cheer  to  the  Greeks  in  their  struggles  against  Turkey  ;  to  Hun- 
gary in  her  fruitless  efforts ;  to  France  in  her  revolutions,  and  to 
Ireland  in  her  hopes  ;  and  now  we  meet  to  utter  our  cordial  greet- 
ings to  Italy,  on  the  accomplishment  of  her  long  wished-for  and 
long-delayed,  but  inevitable  national  consolidation.     [Applause.] 

Italy  !  Italy  !  how  the  word  stirs  up  the  deepest  emotions  of 
our  souls  !  Italy,  the  land  of  beauty,  whither  the  lovers  of  the 


ADDRESS   OF    PARKE    GODWIN.  135 

picturesque  and  graceful  turn  instinctively  to  realize  their 
dream  of  an  earlier  paradise;  Italy,  whose  every  rood  of  soil  is 
consecrated  by  the  immortal  memories  of  some  grand  step  in 
human  civilization;  Italy,  the  home  of  the  arts,  which  capture 
and  enthral  the  imagination  of  mankind,  as  the  highest  and 
happiest  embodiments  of  onr ideals;  but  alas!  Italy, which,  amid 
all  her  splendors  and  glories,  rises  ever  before  us  wan,  broken, 
dishevelled,  her  homes  a  waste,  her  literature  a  plaintive  cry  of 
distress  and  despair,  because  always  denied  the  most  essential  and 
precious  of  all  rights,  her  right  to  be  ! 

One  thing  in  European  history  must  have  impressed  every 
reader  of  it  as  most  strange  and  remarkable.  It  is  this:  That 
everywhere,  after  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  there 
emerged  from  the  anarchy  and  chaos  of  the  barbaric  irruptions, 
the  great  modern  nationalities — everywhere  but  on  the  peninsula. 
The  old  Gaul,  trampled  apparently  into  dust  by  Ripuarian  and 
Italian  Franks,  revived  almost  unchanged  as  restless  and  brilliant 
France  ;  the  heavy  heel  of  the  Yandal,  and  more  lately  of  the 
Saracen  in  Iberia,  only  renders  more  piercing  the  cry  of  nascent 
Spain;  the  ancient  Britons,  subdued  but  not  annihilated  by  their 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Norman  conquerors,  emerge  and  live  as  the 
stalwart  England  ;  but  on  the  peninsula,  better  adapted  by  local 
position  and  circumstances  than  any  other  part  of  the  continent 
for  the  formation  of  a  distinct,  compact,  and  powerful  nationality, 
no  Italy  comes  forth.  The  various  hordes  of  Ilcrules.  Goths, 
Lombards,  Franks  pass  over  the  stage,  but  Italy  stands  silent 
in  the  side-scenes.  Her  name  remains  (for  that  was  imperishable 
from  old  renown),  but  her  substantive  unity,  her  integral  con- 
sciousness, in  short  her  individual  life,  no  longer  appears. 

We  search  her  annals  for  a  thousand  years,  and  find  many 
startling  things,  but  not  herself;  we  meet  with  splendid  cities, 
with  robust  communes,  with  magnificent  principalities,  but  no- 
where with  a  nation.      The  forms  of  heroic   men   incessantly  rise 

Arnolds,  Savonarolas,  Dantes,  Rienzis— with  1km-  name  on 
their  lips,  but  it  is  soon  stifled  in  the  damp  of  dungeons  or  in  the 
faintness  of  exile.     We  encounter  glorious  efforts  of   patriotic 

emancipation,  but  they  are  always  abort  ive  efforts,  whelmed  a u  .1  \ 

as  soon  as  they  are  born  in  tempests  of  revolution,  or  crushed  t<> 
death  by  the  mailed  hand  of  the  invader.  Never,  in  spite  of  the 
admirable  fitness  of  her  geographic  features,  surrounded  b\  seas 


136  UNITY     OF    ITALY. 

and  guarded  by  Alps ;  never,  in  spite  of  the  essential  identity  of 
her  native  races  ;  never,  though  one  language  was  spoken  from 
Turin  to  Naples,  could  Italy,  as  a  whole,  as  a  nation,  as  a  sub- 
stantive beino',  as  an  independent  existence,  come  to  the  birth. 
Always  baffled,  always  frustrated,  "  victor  or  vanquished,"  as 
Filicaja  says,  "  She  was  still  a  slave.'1     [Applause.] 

Now  what  has  been  the  cause  of  this  anomaly  ?  Why,  in  the 
face  of  so  many  yearnings,  of  so  many  struggles,  of  so  much  toil 
and  bloodshed  and  sorrow,  has  Italy  remained  the  seat  of  inces- 
sant convulsions, — like  her  own  Vesuvius,  belching  forth  for- 
ever, or  with  few  intervals,  flame  and  red-hot  lava,  and  shaking 
forever  with  the  shocks  of  earthquake?  The  answer  is  plain. 
Italy,  from  the  outset  of  her  modern  career,  from  the  early  years 
of  the  middle  ages,  has  had  fixed  at  her  very  heart  an  aneurism, 
which  has  dilated  and  festered  there  till  her  whole  circulation 
became  corrupted  and  paralyzed.  In  the  very  middle  of  the 
peninsula,  and  until  ten  years  ago,  stretching  across  from  sea  to 
sea  and  dividing  it  into  two  separate  parts,  spread  a  broad  belt 
of  land  which  was  the  seat  of  an  exclusive,  an  independent,  and 
a  foreign  government.  Yes,  let  me  repeat,  within  the  sovereignty 
of  Italy,  within  her  own  borders,  at  the  very  centre  of  her  do- 
minion, was  another  sovereignty,  not  only  not  responsible  to  her, 
but  alien  in  its  origin  ;  not  only  foreign  in  its  origin,  but  abso- 
lute and  autocratic  in  its  pretensions ;  not  only  absolute  in  its 
pretensions  as  a  proprietor  and  a  ruler,  but  divine  and  theocratic 
in  character,  and  asserting  a  superiority  not  over  Italy  only,  but 
over  the  world  !     [Applause.] 

Now  let  me  ask  any  statesman  or  lawyer,  or  even  any  cursory 
reader  of  affairs,  whether  it  is  possible  for  a  sovereign  State  to 
exist  in  the  bosom  of  another  sovereign  State  ?  Do  they  not  ex- 
clude each  other  by  the  very  definition  of  sovereignty?  Does 
not  the  very  supposition  imply  conflict  and  disorder?  Must  not 
the  one  sooner  or  later  swallow  up  and  destroy  the  other?  Even 
if  they  were  consentaneous  in  their  instincts  and  objects  ;  even 
if  their  feelings,  their  principles,  their  institutions  harmonized  to 
the  full,  the  relation  would  still  be  abnormal,  jarring,  perilous, 
and  liable  at  any  moment  to  a  destructive  rupture.  What  has  been 
lately  our  own  experience  on  that  head, — where,  with  a  kindred 
people,  with  the  same  language,  laws,  trades,  political  systems 
and  destinies,  the  bare  assertion  of  two  incompatible  sovereign- 


ADDRESS    OF    1'AUKK    GODWIN.  137 

ties  led  to  an  awful  and  bloody  war?  How  would  it  be,  then — 
how  must  it  be — when  these  sovereignties  are  not  harmonious 
either  in  structure  or  design,  where  the  governments  which  ex- 
ercise their  powers  are  without  sympathy  of  feeling  or  purpose, 
and  are  borne  onward  by  totally  opposite  impulses  and  inspira- 
tions? How  inevitable,  in  such  a  case,  is  discord,  hatred,  and 
internecine  and  unending  war! 
Now  that  is  the  case  of  Italy. 

It  has  happened  in  the  course  of  events,  that  this  principality 
of  Rome, — originally  a  dependent  duchy  of  the  Roman  empire  ; 
then,  by  a  revolutionary  movement  of  the  people  in  the  eighth 
century,  when  they  broke  away  from  the  empire,  the  "  Republic 
of  Rome,"  whose  government  was  conferred  by  the  same  people 
upon  the  Bishop  of  Rome  ;  and  finally,  by  the  conquests  of  Pepin 
and  of  Charlemagne,   made  the   "  Church  and  the  Republic  of 
Rome,"' — this  principality,  I  say,  by  these  events    acquired    a 
double  character.  It  became  a  Church  as  well  as  a  State  ;  it  was 
an  Italian  principality,  but  also  a  universal  kingdom;  a  temporal 
power  as  well  as  a  spiritual  power,  and  by  this  double  capacity 
necessarily   inimical  to   the   aspirations,  the  tendencies,  the  feel 
ings,  and  the  interests  of  Italy  as  a  nation. 

Italy  as  a  nation  has  experienced  the  same  influences  precisely 
which  the  other  nations  of  Europe  experienced,  and  which,  from 
age  to  age,  have  lifted  them  out  of  mediaeval  conditions  into 
those  of  our  modern  civilization.  Italy,  like  the  other  nations, 
has  felt  that  warm  and  powerful  breath  of  freedom  which  has 
loosed  industry  and  trade  from  their  icy  fetter-  ;  which  has  secu- 
larized  politics,  taking  them  out  of  the  domain  of  bigotry  and 
persecution;  which  has  emancipated  thought  and  conscience; 
and  which  is  leading  us  all  on  to  that  glorious  consummation, 
when  the  equal  and  sacred  manhood  >>i'  every  child  of  the  Uni- 
versal Father  shall  he  the  one  pervading,  inspiring,  organizing 
truth  of  political  and  social  life — the  frontal  truth  of  all  your 
State,-:  the  redeeming  truth  of  all  your  churches.  [Greal  ap- 
plause.] 

Rome,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  necessities  of  her  position 
as  a  double  government,  has  been  hostile  to  all  these  hoj.es  of 
larger  liberty,  to  all  these  tendencies  to  mere  liberal  forms.  Tin' 
political  theory  which,  as  a  theocracy, she  is  compelled  to  adopt, 
i.-  not  the  theory  of  modern  thought,  hut  i-  entirely  inconsistent 


138  UNITY    OF     ITALY. 

with  the  exercise  of  temporal  power,  according  to  any  of  the 
principles  adopted  by  modern  science,  and  recognized  in  the 
practice  of  all  the  enlightened  modern  nations.  That  theory  is, 
that  God  himself  has  commissioned  two  powers  to  govern  the 
world — the  spiritual  power  and  the  temporal  power  :  the  former 
exercised  by  the  Pope,  and  the  latter  by  the  King.  That  the 
spiritual  power  is  the  sun,  while  the  temporal  power  is  the  earth  ; 
that  the  one  is  the  soul,  the  other  the  body  ;  consequently  that 
the  one  is  as  superior  to  the  other  as  the  sun  is  to  the  earth,  or 
the  soul  to  the  body  ;  and  that  the  temporal  is  responsible  to  the 
spiritual,  while  the  spiritual  is  responsible  only  to  God.  Heaven 
preserve  us,  as  Paul  Louis  Courier  used  to  say,  from  malignity 
and  metaphors  !  How,  under  such  a  theory,  can  a  government 
be  anything  but  absolute,  anything  but  irresponsible,  anything 
but  '"immutable,"  as  it  is  called — that  is,  incapable  of  error,  and 
therefore  incapable  of  amelioration. 

Deriving  its  authority  and  its  powers  not  from  its  people,  nor 
any  class  of  its  people,  nor  yet  from  the  larger  constituency  of 
Christendom,  but  from  a  special  and  direct  gift  of  the  Almighty, 
its  agents  are  of  course  responsible  only  to  Him  from  whom  they 
hold  their  trust.  No  human  law  may  call  them  to  account ;  no 
human  tribunal  subject  their  acts  to  its  scrutiny  or  its  punish- 
ment ;  and  no  human  opinion,  indeed,  venture  to  criticise  or 
condemn.  Again,  under  such  a  theory  and  constitution  of  gov- 
ernment, the  spiritual  ends  must  take  precedence  of  the  mere 
temporal  ends  ;  rights  must  be  subordinated  to  duties  even  the 
most  formal  ;  and  the  chief  business  of  administration  become, 
not  the  defence  of  person  and  property,  but  the  definition  of  dog- 
ma and  the  promotion  of  an  external  worship. 

Accordingly  the  government  of  Koine,  of  all  the  governments 

in  the  civilized  world,  is  the  most  absolute  and  at  the  same  time 

the  most  absurd.     It  is  a  government  of  priests,  in  which  laymen 

have  no  voice  and  no  uses.  Not  an  iota  of  freedom  exists  there  by 

right,  only  by  their  concession.    Not  a  solitary  public  press  which 

is  not  controlled  by  their  agents  ;  not  a  public  meeting  can  be  held 

without  their  sanction,  and  not  a  book  can  be  circulated,  even  the 

Bible,   nor  the  common  Father  of  All  worshipped,  but  by  their 

consent.     What  is  worse  is,  that  offences  against  this  authority 

constitute    a   sacrilege;     mere    sins  and  personal  vices  become 

heinous  crimes,  and  are  more  often  punished  than  crimes ;  and 


ADDRESS  OF  PARKE  GODWIN.  139 

the  temeritv  which  ventures  to  call  in  question  the  acts  of  the 
hierophant,  who  is  also  the  judge  and  the  executioner,  is  liable  to 
the  dungeon  and  the  axe,  as  well  as  to  hell-lire.      [Applause.] 

Need  we  wonder,  then,  that  the  Roman  people,  placed  under 
such  a  power,  should  become  restive  and  irritable  ?  AVhen  the 
thorn  is  in  your  flesh  will  you  not  pluck  it  out  ?  When  the  nia- 
remma  is  enclosing  your  fields,  and  spreading  its  vapors  to  your 
very  door,  will  you  not  drain  off  its  stagnant  pools  and  open  it > 
pestilent  bogs  to  the  air  and  sunlight  of  heaven  ?  Well,  then, 
can  you  be  surprised  that  the  Roman  people  have  more  than  a 
score  of  times  driven  out  their  prince,  who  was  only  restored  in 
most  cases  by  the  points  of  foreign  bayonets  turned  against  the 
breasts  of  his  faithful  subjects? 

That,  however,  is   not    all.     This   Roman  principality    is  not 
only  an  anachronism,  a  petty  local  tyranny  translated  out  of  the 
ninth  into  the  nineteenth  centurv,  and  as  such  a  scourge  to  its  im- 
mediate  subjects.     It  is   besides  a  theocratic  monarchy,   and  as 
such  an   obstacle  and  a  clog  to  the  progressive  development  of 
the  whole  of  Italy.      Representing  a  vast  outside  constituenc}\ 
it    has    aims,  feelings,  policy,  and    principles    that    are   wholly 
foreign   to  Italy.     All  its  external  relations  are   managed   with 
reference  to  its  own  advancement,  and   not   in   reference  to  the 
advancement  of  that  people  within   whose   borders  it   subsists. 
Whether    coalescing    or    warring    with    the    Greek   Emperors; 
whether  coalescing  or  warring  with  the  Lombard  kings,  whether 
coalescing   or  warring    with  the  Frank    Mayors  of  the   Palace, 
whether  coalescing  or  warring  with    the   aristocratic   republic-, 
with  the  German  Kaisers,  or  the  English,  the  French,  the  Span 
ish  ministries,  it-  conducl  has  invariably  been  determined  by  its 
own  interests  of  religion  or  ambition,  and  not  by  the  interests  of 
its  Italian  connection. 

Italy  has  often  been  a  pawn  in  its  game  ;   it  has  been  the  shut 
tlecock  of   its   blows,  it   has  been  the  field  of  its  battle-;    but  her 
defence,  her  development,  her  progress,  her  concentration  and 
strength  were  never  the  end.     On  the  contrary,  it  was  always 

an  end    to    defeat     every    movement   for    her    consolidation    and 

strength.     Fra  Paolo  Sarpi,  who  in  the  lii-.-t  years  of  the  seven 
teenth  century  took  the  part  of  the   Venetian   republic  againsl 
the  Papacy,  returningto  his  cell  one  nighl  was  Binitten  down  by 
the  hand  of  an   assassin — smitten  but  not   killed.     Drawing  the 


140  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

weapon  from  the  wound,  lie  hung  it  upon  the  wall,  inscribing 
beneath  it,  "  The  dagger  of'Korae."  So  upon  every  baffled  and 
unsuccessful  effort  of  the  Italian  people  to  accomplish  their 
national  enfranchisement,  we  may  also  inscribe  "the  dagger  of 
Rome."  [Applause.]  She  has  resisted  and  stifled  every  at- 
tempt in  that  direction,  from  the  time  of  the  Lombards  to  the 
time  of  Carl  Albert  or  Victor  Emmanuel.  Her  dark  emis- 
saries, like  the  weird  sisters  of  "  Macbeth,"  "  without  age  and 
without  sex,"  have  ever  circled  about  the  destiny  of  Italy  with 
the  foreboding  and  mystic  cry  of 

"  Bubble,  bubble,  toil  and  trouble, 
Fire  bum  and  caldron  bubble," 

and  by  their  incantations  made 

"  Fair  of  foul  and  foul  of  fair." 

Rome,  I  say,  has  resisted  every  forward  and  upward  movement; 
she  has  smitten  it  when  she  could  openly  ;  she  has  stabbed  it  when 
she  could  not  smite  ;  but,  thank  God,  she  has  not  killed  it ;  for 
now  after  centuries  of  trial,  and  despite  her  machinations  and 
intrigues,  comes  the  completed  triumph.  In  the  language  of 
your  address,  we  may  exclaim  aloud,  "  Italy  is  free !  Italy  is 
one!  and  Rome,  the  ancient  mistress  of  the  world,  is  her 
capital  once  more,  not  by  the  support  of  foreign  garrisons,  but 
the  free  choice  of  the  Italian  people."     [Great  applause.] 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Godwin's  speech,  the  Address  was  unani- 
mously and  enthusiastically  approved. 

On  the  announcement  by  the  President  that  several  thousands,  un- 
able to  gain  entrance,  were  gathered  without  and  asked  for  speakers, 
Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  Chancellor  Crosby,  Daniel  D.  Lord,  Esq., 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  Esq.,  and  others  volunteered  and  addressed  the  people 
outside  the  Academy. 

Here  the  band  performed  the  March  "  Viva  Italia." 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  H.  W.  BEECHER. 
We  are  not  assembled  this  evening,  fellow-citizens,  for  any  po- 
lemical purpose.  It  is  not  to  consider  the  theology  of  Rome,  nor 
to  discuss  her  ecclesiastical  politics.  We  have  no  war  to  make 
ao-ainst  the  Pope.  The  old  questions,  that  have  been  debated 
through  hundreds  of  years,  may  sleep  to-night  for  all  of  us.  We 
are  disposed  rather,  in  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  in  consistency  with 


AJDDEESS    OF    H.    W.    BE.ECHEE.  1-tl 

our  known  Protestant  feelings,  to  express  such  sympathy  for  the 
Pope  as  his  excellent  private  character,  joined  to  his  misfortunes, 
would  naturally  beget.  [Applause.]  We  are  here  to-night,  in 
part,  because  we  have  been  summoned  by  the  clamor,  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  multitudes  of  meetings  called  in  this  country  to 
represent  American  feeling,  and  to  send  it  abroad  to  all  the  Courts 
of  Europe,  and  especially  to  Italy,  as  a  testimony  from  this  con- 
tinent. I  hold  in  my  hand  a  paragraph  from  one  of  the  ablest 
religious  Catholic   papers  in  this  city,  in  which   it  is  said  : — 

' '  The  Catholic  papers  everywhere  are  full  of  reports  of  immense  meetings 
and  earnest  protests  in  behalf  of  the  Holy  Father.  [Laughter.]  The  whole 
Catholic  world  is  stirred  to  its  very  depths  by  the  flagitious  outrage  offered  to  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  and  through  him  to  all  his  spiritual  children." 

Still  further  on  it  says  : — 

"Some  may  sneer  at  this  world  -wide  manifestation  of  sympathy  with  the 
Pope,  and  still  more  at  the  demand  of  Catholics  that  his  temporal  power  be  re- 
stored ;  let  them  sneer  who  may ;  they  will  find  that  the  united  action  of  the 
Catholic  people  forming  a  part,  and  in  many  instances  a  considerable  part  of  the 
population  even  of  so-called  Protestant  countries,  must  and  shall  have  its  effect. 
Xone  know  this  better  than  Yictok  Emmanuel  and  his  ministers,  and  they  shall 
probably  know  it  better  still  before  many  months  go  by."     [Laughter.] 

Xow.  fellow-citizens,  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  hierarchy  of  Rome 
scattered  throughout  the  world — men  eminent  for  learning,  for 
purity  of  life,  and  for  sincere  devotion  to  the  cause  which  they  ad- 
vocate— I  do  not  wonder  that  they  are  kindled  with  enthusiasm, 
and   that  they  send  hack  protestations  over  the  sea,  for  they  that 
love  and  honor  power  love  the  source  of  power.     I  might  borrow 
from  the  Italian  itself  the  homely  proverb,  "  The  goblet  loves  the 
spigot  that  1ills  it.'1   [Applause.]   Nor  do  1  altogether  marvel  that 
the  mercurial  temperament  of  many  of  the  laity,  who  arc  better  in- 
formed on  some  other  subjects  than  they  are  on  civil  polity,  follow 
their  leaders  and  acclaim  with  a  large  <  legree  of  enthusiasm  ;  Inn  1 
do  say  that  those  who  haw  a  right  to  speak,  whose  voices  we  are 
willing  to  hear,  considering  that  thej  are  expressing  but  their 
own   opinion — I  do  say   that  theirs   will    not    be  the  only  voice 
sen!    across   the    water.     [Cheers.]     Let  their   words   go    from 
this    free    country    freely.     Let   it    he    understood    in     Europe 
that  then-  is  not  a  city  in  America  in  which  the  adherents  of  the 
papacy — and   that  in    its  worst  aspect,    in  its   civil   relations— 
that   then;    is    no    hamlet,    town,    or   city    in     which    they    can- 
not  assemble   and  express  their   opinions   without    molestation 


142  UNITY    OF     ITALY. 

or  without  ill-feeling.  Let  them  send  their  voices  over  the  sea, 
and  tell  Italy  and  tell  the  Papal  Government  what  sort  of 
liberty  is  bred  in  America.  [Applause.]  Bat  then,  when 
they  shall  have  had  free  course  to  run  and  be  heard  [laugh- 
ter] ;  when  the  cable  shall  have  done  its  messages,  there  shall 
come  another  sort  of  sound  afterward,  rolling  from  the  prairies 
and  the  mountains,  and  from  the  towns  and  cities  and  over  the 
sea,  to  say  to  every  potentate  in  Europe,  and  to  say  to  Italy,  now 
standing  erect  in  her  new-born  liberty,  "  This  is  the  voice  of 
America — Hail  Italian  Unity,  and  God  bless  it ! "  [Great  cheering.] 

I  do  not  forget  that  within  the  bosom  of  the  Holy  Church  itself 
there  are  those  who  are  fully  in  sympathy  with  us,  that  there 
are  many  Roman  Catholics  that  are  not  Papists.  There  are 
many  and  many  good  and  Christian  men,  not  second  in  learn- 
ing to  any,  who  believe  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  the 
only  Apostolic  Church,  and  the  only  church  in  which  salvation 
is  sure  [laughter],  registered,  and  pre-paid  [renewed  laughter] 
There  are  prelates  who  believe,  as  we  believe,  that  the  Pope  is 
not  the  infallible  and  authoritative  interpreter  of  God  on  earth. 
Though  they  hold  to  the  Church,  they  don't  hold  to  that  dogma; 
though  they  believe  even  in  the  spiritual  headship  of  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  they  do  not  believe  it  is  best  for  him  and  the  Church  to 
add  civil  government  to  his  clerical  and  spiritual  functions.  And 
we  shall  say  to  that  large  body  of  laymen,  and  not  a  small  body 
of  clergymen,  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  America  silent,  but  in 
Europe  vocal,  that  we  do  not  believe  it  to  be  an  evil  that  Rome 
has  lost  her  territory,  that  she  might  gain  a  better  empire  spiritu- 
ally throughout  the  world   [applause]. 

But  I  would  not  have  it  understood  that  we  have  come  together" 
here  to-night  on  the  wild  impulse  of  liberty,  and  are  bearing 
witness  to  our  sympathy  for  Italy  on  no  just  and  solid  grounds 
of  experience  and  of  reason.  For  I  think  that  the  American 
people  base  their  sympathy  with  this  successful  movement  of  Italy 
upon  fundamental  grounds  that  will  bear  stating,  bear  reading, 
and  bear  reasoning. 

And,  h'rst,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  American  people,  with  a  very 
small  minority  to  the  contrary,  that  the  government  of  a  commu- 
nity b}r  a  class  in  that  community,  without  the  consent  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  governed,  is  one  of  the  worst  organizations  that 
can  enthral  a  nation  [applause].  It  is  the  opinion  of  this  American 


ADDRESS    OF    H.    W.   BEECHER.  14:3 

people  that  of  all  classes  of  governments  there  is  no  other  so  bad 
as  the  government  of  an  ecclesiastical  class  [applause].  It  might 
be  presumed  beforehand  that  a  body  of  men  carefully  educated 

to  moral  ideas,  that  they  might  be  moral  teachers,  would  make 
the  best  citizens  not  only,  but  the  best  rulers.  Yet  I  must  say 
experience  has  not  borne  out  the  theory  [laughter].  It  has  not. 
Is  it  because  clergymen  are  so  spiritual  that  they  cannot  gel 
their  feet  to  the  ground  on  which  they  are  living  '.  [Laughter.] 
Is  it  because  they  are  so  given  to  divine  studies  that  they  have; 
forgotten  human  \  I  think  not.  I  think  clergymen  should  make 
just  as  good  citizens  as  anybody  else  ;  I  think  they  ought  to  take 
part  in  citizenship  just  like  anybody  else.  They  ought  to  read  ; 
they  ought  to  debate  with  proper  modesty  [laughter]  ;  they 
ought  to  vote;  they  ought  to  be  taxed,  and  without  grumbling 
to  pay  their  taxes  [laughter];  they  ought  not  to  be  discriminated 
from  other  citizens  in  any  single  respect.  They  are  no  better  in 
the  eve  of  the  law,  and  they  are  no  worse  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 
They  are  simply  common  people  before  the  law  and  before  the 
Government,  and  as  such  they  average  very  well  with  their  fel- 
low-citizen-. [Applause.]  There  have  been  those  that  at- 
tempted to  say  to  the  clergy  :  Your  business  is  such  that  you 
should  not  be  found  in  these  lower  walks  of  life  ;  you  should  not 
dabble  with  politics,  hut  give  yourselves  up  to  holy  contempla- 
tion, and  bring  a  delightful  calm  into  the  house  of  God,  where 
men,  forgetting  the  duties,  the  troubles,  and  the  burdens  of  daily 
life,  shall  have  visions  of  immortality  and  bliss.  And  after  a 
time  these  good  and  holy  men  are  with  velvet  praise  made  to 
think  that  perhaps  they  are  better  than  they  thought  they  were. 
[Laughter.]  And  when  they  are  told  to  put  their  dainty  teet 
upon  the  privileged  shelf;  to  lounge  as  if  they  were  made  of 
different  flesh  and  blood  ;  when  they  find  themselves  incensed 
and  praised  in  sweet  suggestions  of  compliment,  being  called 
•'divine  men,"  and  when  they  begin  to  feel  the  attitude  of  gods 
in  them,  it  is  not  surprising  in  my  mind  that  they  like  it.  |  Ap- 
plause.] Now  a  man  thai  is  neither  a  citizen  nor  traitor,  neither 
man  nor  woman,  neither  angel  nor  minister,  but  a  certain  para 
sitic  something,  I  have  no  opinion  for.  When  they  are  made 
ami  rounded  out  like  dough,  properly  pricked  and  stamped  with 
3omebody's name, they  arc  vreryuicemen  and  warranted  to  keep. 
[Laughter.]      That   is  the  way  the  democrats   make  hierarehB, 


144  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

[Cheers.]  Bnt  ministerial  democrats  like  myself  say  to  these 
people,  "Out  with  you — a  man  is  a  man,  and  he  is  only  a  man." 
I  stand  on  the  apostolic  declaration  :  "  Men  and  brethren,  we  are 
men  of  like  passions  with  you.  We  get  mad  just  as  you  do,  jeal- 
ous just  as  you  do,  and  sometimes  feel  like  lighting  as  you  do. 
We  are  citizens,  having  our  cares,  our  temptations,  our  part  of 
public  thought,  and  public  business,  and  public  duty;  bound  to 
it  not  because  we  are  ministers,  but  men,  and  because  we  are 
citizens."  I  say  ministers  are  just  as  good  citizens  as  need  be,  if 
you  let  them  be  common  democratic  citizens  ;  but  the  moment  you 
make  a  class  of  them  you  spoil  them.  The  moment  you  say  to 
them  :  Here  are  the  people,  there  are  the  men  of  God, — that  very 
moment  you  have  made  a  hierarchy  and  a  class.  And  then,  if 
they  feel  the  impulse  of  that  class,  if  they  adhere  to  all  the  class 
instincts  among  themselves,  with  class  ambitions  and  feelings, 
they  become  — not  because  they  are  ministers,  but  because  they 
are  handed  together — they  become  the  worst  possible  managers  of 
all  public  or  political  affairs.  That  which  is  dune  by  complai- 
sance and  flatteries  in  a  democratic  community  is  done  on  pur- 
pose abroad  ;  and  the  hierarchy  of  Rome  is  an  educated  body  of 
men  cut  off  in  various  ways,  and  in  the  purpose  of  their  lives, 
from  social  relations  to  the  community — made  to  be  utterly  sep- 
arate. And  experience  has  shown  when  jtou  put  them  at  the 
helm  and  give  them  the  control  of  public  affairs  there  is  no  gov- 
ernment more  oppressive,  more  abominable  and  intolerable  than 
that  which  comes  from  priestly  government.     [Applause.] 

Italy  has  groaned,  being  burdened  through  centuries  with 
this  government.  As  part  by  part  it  has  been  rescued,  we  have 
been  all  glad  ;  and  now  that  at  length  the  Pontifical  States 
themselves  have  had  the  opportunity  to  express  their  feelings  in 
regard  to  their  masters,  and  have  blown  them  up,  we  are  glad  of 
that  too  :  not  because  they  are  Roman  Catholics,  and  not  because 
the}7  are  priests,  but  because  they  are  a  class  government,  and  one 
of  the  most  odious  of  all  class  governments.  America,  then, 
sends  back  to-night  sympathy  to  Italy,  because  Italy  has  got  rid 
of  the  despotism  of  the  priestly  class  government.     [Cheers.] 

This  nation,  secondly,  sends  sympathy  to  Italy  because  she  is 
treading  in  those  very  footsteps  which  have  brought  us  to  where 
we  stand  :  though  our  steps,  like  hers,  were  in  blood — we  to  the 
horse's  bridle,  she  scarcely  above  her  shoe  latchet — yet  she  is  walk- 


ADDRESS   OF   H.    W.    BEECHEK.  [45 

ing  to  power,  by  the  same  path  through  which  we  have  consoli- 
dated popular  power  in  this  country.  There  are  two  elements 
which  evidently  must  exist  in  every  great  government  in  our  day. 
J  ower  must  be  radicated  at  the  bottom  of  society  and  in  the 
municipal  governments.  County  governments  and  State  govern- 
ments must  be  federated,  holding  in  their  hands  real  powers; 
hut  all  the  local  governments  must  be  so  spread  abroad,  inde- 
pendently, that  they  shall  he  the  roots  of  power  among  the  peo- 
ple ;  so  that  when  they  are  affiliated  and  brought  together  into 
the  common  trunk  of  the  general  government,  that  combination 
will  represent  in  its  forms  the  absolute  power  of  all  these  units  at 
the  bottom.  Now  we  have  an  ample  example  of  this  abroad. 
So  long  as  it  was  possible  to  maintain  a  nation  with  depart- 
mental independence  in  France,  so  long  France  was  powerful 
externally  and  weak  internally.  France,  like  a  hollow  globe, 
is  strong  against  pressure,  but  when  the  globe's  surface  is 
crushed  it  has  no  supports  within  and  nothing  that  can  bear  her 
up.  When  we  were  at  war  here  in  America,  the  more  we  were 
defeated  and  driven  back  the  more  we  were  driven  toward  hope. 
The  North  in  the  great  conflict  was  never  so  strong  as  in  the 
last  years  of  the  struggle,  for  it  cultivated  local  strength.  The 
South  cultivated  communal  strength,  and  was  strongest  first. 
We  had  cultivated  not  much  communal  strength,  but  great  local 

• 

independence,  and  at  the  first  we  were  crushed,  but  we  after- 
ward crushed  them.     [Applause.]     Germany  has  cultivated  local 
strength  without  affiliation,  and  what  is  the  result?      It  has  been 
in  the  hands  of  a   tyranny  tor  generations,  simply  because   there 
was  no  national  unity  there.      Like  so  many  tmground  kernels  of 
wheat,  they  could   not    make  a  loaf.     There  was  power  in   these 
little  petty  kingdoms,  but  they  could  not  be  held  together.     It 
was  not  until,' God  willing  and  Bismarck  in  power,  the  late  events 
took  place,  thai  Germany  began  to  understand  that  real  national 
power  required  two  elements,  namely,  local  strength  and  national 
cohesion.     We  have  proved  it.     The  central  nations  of  Europe  are 
making  the  experiment.     We  "say  to  Italy.  We  hail  your  experi 
incut  and  your  success.     The  various  departments  of  [tab  now 
are  united  together  under  one  King.     It  Is  a  federated  republican 
monarchy.     It  is  a  constitutional  monarchy,  hut  made  up  of  sev 
era!   independent  State-  of  the  peninsula;  and  now  thai   thi 
States  have  come  in  under  the  sa segis,  we  rejoice  at  it.  for  we 


146  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

say  this  is  the  way  to  strength — local  independence  and  national 
unity.  [Applause.]  We  are  glad  that  Italy  has  taken  these 
steps,  following  the  example  of  America.  She  takes  with  her  our 
full  sympathy,  and  we  send  to  Italy  the  voice  of  this  meeting 
and  say,  We  rejoice  in  the  prosperous  and  successful  issue  of  your 
endeavors  to  unite  every  part  of  the  peninsula  in  one  solid 
government.     [Applause.] 

We  also  sympathize  with  them  on  the  simple  ground  that 
the  Pontifical  States  have  tired  of  their  old  ruler,  and  want  to 
try  another.  [Cheers  and  laughter.]  When  we  are  tired  of  our 
magistrates  we  know  what  to  do  with  them.  We  send  white 
thunder  after  them  every  election  day.  Ballots  kill,  or  would  do 
so  outside  of  JSTew  York.  [Laughter.]  The  expression  of  the  will 
of  the  people  ought  to  govern  in  any  community.  They  ought  to 
have  the  power  of  determining  their  laws  and  their  magistrates  ; 
and  when  the  Pontifical  States  are  called  to  vote,  and  they  have 
voted  almost  to  a  man  that  they  did  not  want  their  Holy  Father 
[laughter],  it  is  time  they  should  be  set  free  [cheers].  And 
when  they  turn  to  the  King  of  Italy,  where  is  the  American 
that  will  withhold  his  sympathy  from  these  States  that  desire 
to  be  governed  by  Victor  Emmanuel,  and  not  by  Pius  IX.,  or 
say  these  people  shall  not  have  liberty  of  choosing  their  own 
Governor?  The  voice  of  this  meeting  and  of  America  declares 
that  every  people  have  a  right  to  determine  their  own  laws  and 
their  own  Governor.  [Cheers.]  I  say  to  the  Italians  to-night, 
that  we  are  in  sympathy  with  the  movement,  because  the  Italian 
Government,  as  now  constituted,  carries  with  it  education,  intel- 
ligence among  the  common  people,  liberty  of  conscience  and 
of  the  Press,  and  of  religion  and  progress. 

Now  I  should  like  to  see  a  thousand  American  men  who  say  they 
do  not  believe  in  a  free  Press,  and  a  free  conscience,  and  general 
intelligence,  and  progress,  unrestricted  except  by  the  bounds  of 
morality.  Put  this  question  to  Americans,  Do  you  desire  to  see 
Italy  as  free  as  America  in  all  the  great  elements  of  humanity  % 
and  would  there  be  enough  speaking  to  be  heard  even  in  an 
undertone  at  that  thunder  of  acclamation  that  would  go  across  the 
sea?  I  hope  the  time  will  come  when  I  shall  sing  the  Old  Hun- 
dred in  the  Coliseum.  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  ever  preach  in 
the  Vatican  or  in  St.  Peters.  [Laughter.]  I  think,  on  the  whole, 
I  shall  not.     [Laughter.]     I  do  not  despair  of  the  day,  when  there 


ADDRESS    OF    H.    W.    BEECHER.  147 

shall    be  heard   in   every  part  of  Rome  the  voice  of  Protestant 
Christian  people,  gathered  in  their  several  chapels  and  places  of 
worship,  interrupting  no  other,  but  exercising  their  own  liberty, 
and  praising  God  as  their  fathers  praised  him.      [Cheers.]     That 
change  has  come  which  has  broken  the  priestly  yoke  ;  the  burden 
is  gone,  and  the  shackle  has  gone,  and   I    say,  God  be  thanked 
for  it!     [Tremendous  applause.]     All  Europe  and  the  civilized 
world  are  interested  in  bringing  Italy  back  again  into  the  family 
of  nations.    There  is  a  noble  stock  there.     The  fine  Italian  genius 
is  not  lost  out  of  the  world  yet ;  there  is  yet  to  be  a  historv  of 
that  -people  not  unworthy  of  the  illustrious  past.     We  hail'  the 
dawn  of  this  new  era,  and  rejoice  at  this  approximate  consumma- 
tion of   it,  because  the  world  needs  Italy  just  where  she  is,  and 
there  should  be  a  regenerated  Italy.     We  are  to  have  a  Germany 
united  more  than  ever  before  ;  we  are  to  have  before  long  a  re- 
generated and,  I  believe,  a  constitutional  A  ustria.    [Applause.J    I 
do  not  despair  of  Spain  ;   and   I  believe  when   France  is  ground 
still  further,— God   grant   it   may  be   till  every   vestige   of  cen- 
tralization is    ground  out    of  her, — when    she    believes    in    the 
liberty  of  every  part    of  France,  and  of  every  Frenchman,  we 
shall  see  a  resurrected  France  arising  from  the  fields  of  blood 
new  and  strong  in  freedom.      [Applause.]      We  want  to  see  old 
Italy,  the   mother  of  so  many  laws,— whose  religion   has  blessed 
the  world  and  cursed    it,  whose  laws  captured   and  released  so 
many  men, whose  arms  have  dominated,  but  whose  ideas  still  more  ; 
-we  want  to  see  the  day  of  Italy  when  she  shall  arise,  and  gen- 
eration after  generation  of  her  people  shall  be  educated,  and'  her 
voice  again   be  heard  in  Europe  in  science,  in  art,  in  religion,  in 
jurisprudence   and    in    politics.      We  stand  not   as   if   there   had 
been  wrong  done  to  the  Pope.     These  people  do  nol  want  him. 
That  is  quite  proper.     His  people  do  not   like  his  Government 
and    would   try   another.      But    we   look    at   it   in   a    larger   light. 
W  o  see  the  dawn  of  a  noble  manhood    in  the  young  nation,  and 
we  an-  glad,  for  we  have  no  jealousy  or  fears.     Other  nations 
may  be  afraid   in   Europe  to  see  a  great  potentate  rise  bv  their 
side -not   we.      We   are   not   afraid   even    of   Mexico  or   Canada 
[gr.-;,t   laughter],  and  certainly  not  of  this  fresh  nation  over  the 
-,;i-      VI  e   rejoice   in    the   rise  of  that    new,  young,  and    vigorous 
nation,  mid    we   say  to    Italy,   You    are    needed;    the  world  wants 

you;  andsince  it  has  pleased  God  t<>  bring  vqu  into  life,  we  wish 
10 


14S  UNITY    OF  ITALY. 

to  see  von  with  strength  to  take  cure  of  yourself.  [Cheers.] 
I  also  accord,  and  none  the  less  from  any  pleasantries  that  might 
have  been  uttered,  to  every  class  of  our  citizens  the  right  to  ex- 
press themselves  just  as  explicitly  as  we  have  done,  and  to 
send  their  messages  across  the  sea.  I  recur  to  the  topic  on  which 
we  besran,  namely — the  voice  of  these  men  clustered  here  and 
there  in  our  great  cities  must  not  be  mistaken  anywhere  for  the 
voice  of  the  American  people.  This  meeting  will  send  out  sparks 
that  will  kindle  meetings  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
Washington,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  and  St.  Louis.  Town  after 
town  will  follow  up  this  meeting.  TTe  want  Europe  to  under- 
stand that  when  we  are  called  upon  to  speak,  Americans  are 
on  the  side,  and  always  so,  of  liberty  in  religion  and  politics.  I 
hail  the  auspicious  day,  now  near  approaching,  when  the  Italian 
Government  shall  move  its  bureaus  and  its  Chief  Magistrate 
to  the  venerable  old  city  of  Borne.  May  the  sun  shine  bright 
when  Victor  Emmanuel  enters  her  gates  amid  the  peals  of 
cannon  and  the  joyous  acclamations  of  the  people  on  that  joyful 
day.  "Without  any  violent  stretch  of  imagination,  we  might  fancy 
we  heard  whispered  from  above  on  that  glad  occasion  :  "  Arise, 
shine:  for  thv  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen 
upon  thee."  [Applause.]  May  God  enable  us  to  add  :  ki  Violence 
shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  laud,  wasting  or  destruction  within 
thy  borders.  Thou  shalt  call  thy  walls  salvation  and  thy  gates 
praise."     [Thunders  of  applause.] 


ADDRESS  OF  JUDGE  JAMES  EMOTT. 
Mr.  President  and  Fellow-Citizens  ;  If  any  man  will  care- 
fully look  back  upon  the  record  of  the  last  ten  years  of  the  world's 
history,  he  will  find  such  results  as  perhaps  no  ten  years  ever  saw 
before.  Here  at  home  we  have  wiped  out  hnman  slavery  in  blood 
and  tears,  and  we  have  consolidated  America  into  a  nation  so 
firmly  that  no  theories  hereafter  can  call  rebellion  by  any  other 
name.  We  justly  boast  of  such  sacrifices  and  such  results.  But 
the  movements  in  the  older  nations  of  the  world  are  in  their  char- 
acter and  their  consequences  certainly  no  less  wonderful  than  the 
sacrifices  and  achievements  of  our  own  people.  There  is  not  a 
(ireat  Power  in  Europe  which  has  not  felt  the  advance  of  civiliza- 
ti<  >n.  Bu->ia  lias  freed  her  millions  of  serfs.  Austria,  so  long  wed- 
ded to  civil  and  ecclesiastical  despotism,  is  becoming  a  constitu- 


ADDRESS    OF   JUDGE    EMOTT.  1-ii* 

tional  monarchy.  Spain  lias  opened  a  door  to  free  thought  and 
speech  which  can  hardly  1  >e  closed  again.  England  lias  kept 
steadily  moving  toward  the  enlightenment  and  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  her  masses.  Germany  has  become  a  nation,  to  stand  in 
the  world's  conflicts  the  representative  of  free  thought  and  ad- 
vanced civilization.  France  is  in  throes  which  may  usher  in  the 
birth  of  a  better  government  than  military  despotism,  or  a  repub- 
lic of  fanaticism  or  force.  To  each  of  these  nations  in  turn  our 
rulers  and  our  people  have  ottered  recognition  and  sympathy. 
But  now  at  length  Italy,  too,  has  achieved  freedom  and  unity. 
Yet  to  the  people  of  Italy  not  a  word  has  been  sent  back  from 
the  people  of  this  land,  the  land  to  which  the  struggling  look  for 
sympathy,  and  to  which  the  oppressed  flee  for  refuge,  excepl 
echoes  of  the  curses  fulminated  by  the  Pope  of  Rome.  Surely  it 
is  time  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  should  speak  to  the 
people  of  Italy,  as  well  as  the  subjects  of  the  Roman  Church  in 
America  to  its  rulers  at  Rome.  If  it  be  true  that  we  have  poli- 
ticians and  public  men  who  cannot  see  how  the  principles  of  free 
government  are  involved  in  the  Italian  question,  or  if  there  are 
such  men  who  dare  not  speak  their  convictions  for  fear  of  the 
political  power  wielded  by  an  organized  religious  body  here 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  it  is  time  that  the  Amer- 
ican people  knew  it.  Such  a  state  of  things  may  concern 
us  more  than  the  impotent  anathemas  of  the  Pope  do  the 
Italians.      [Applause.] 

Let  us  be  careful  to  remember  and  to  make  everybody 
understand  that  this  is  no  religious  question.  Against  the 
doctrines  or  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  long  as 
they  are  only  the  doctrines  and  observances  of  a  church,  en- 
forced by  religious  considerations  upon  the  consciences  of  its 
adherents,  no  American  citizen  should  ever  do-ire  to  invoke  the 
laws  of  his  country,  or  to  excite  the  political  animosities  of  his 
fellow-citizens.   Whatever  the  Bishop  of  Rome  and  hi.-  Ministers 

might    have   done   to  us    while    they  ruled   that    city,  had    we  de 
sired  to  profess  our  faith,  or  perform  our  worship  there,  God  for- 
bid   that    we   should    attempt  any    intolerance    where  we   are    the 

rulers.     Nor  do  1   propose  to  discuss  any  etl'oi't   of  the  Roman 
Bishop  to  impose  upon  the  conscience  of  those  who  believe  him 
infallible,  dogmas  which  seem  to  as  in  conflict  with  human  prog 
re—,  nay,  I  might  -;iy  hostile  to  the  authority  if  not  the  existence 


150  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

of  any  human  governments  not  subordinate  to  his  own  power.  We 
acknowledge  the  right  of  every  man  to  his  opinions  and  to  their 
open  advocacy. 

If  every  American  citizen,  native  or  naturalized,  believes  that 
the  principles  of  the  Papal  court  and  the  Papal  government  are 
the  true  principles  of  human  life  and  human  government,  no 
true  friend  of  liberty  and  civilization  should  desire  that  such 
opinions  should  not  be  frankly  avowed  and  freely  discussed. 

But  no  such  question  as  this  has  brought  us  here  to-night.  The 
issue  raised  by  the  Pope  of  Rome  and  the  supporters  of  his  tem- 
poral government  is  between  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Italian 
people.  It  is  a  question  between  the  head  of  that  Church  as  a 
temporal  ruler,  and  a  million  of  people  to  whose  country  he  has 
no  title  but  one  acquired  by  his  predecessors  by  force  or  fraud, 
and  whom  he  has  misgoverned  beyond  endurance.  That  people, 
relieved  from  foreign  force,  have  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  his  gov- 
ernment, and  their  brethren  of  the  Italian  race,  receiving  them 
back  as  part  of  the  united  whole  to  which  Italy  is  at  last  restored, 
have  marched  their  army  to  put  down  the  mercenary  bands  by 
whom  the  Pope  has  been  maintaining  his  power.  This,  we  are 
told,  is  not  only  rebellion  but  robbery,  and  not  only  robbery  but 
sacrilege.  Now  let  us  see  what  is  the  title  of  the  Pope  of  Rome 
to  what  were  called  his  States.  Go  back  to  its  origin,  and  you 
will  find  it  springing  out  of  rebellion  ;  trace  its  history,  and  you 
will  see  that,  like  all  other  governments  which  have  come  down 
from  the  past,  it  has- grown  and  been  built  up  by  fraud  and  by 
force. 

Down  to  the  eighth  century  the  Pope  of  Rome  was  a  spiritual 
ruler,  and  the  civil  ruler  of  Italy  was  the  Emperor,  with  Exarchs 
and  Prefects  under  him.  In  that  century  came  to  the  throne 
Leo,  the  Isaurian, — a  rude  soldier;  probably  an  honest  man. 
He  imbibed  a  resolute  hatred  of  the  already  prevalent  adoration 
of  images.  He  interdicted  and  proscribed  them.  Everywhere 
the  people,  led  by  the  clergy,  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the 
Emperor  rather  than   abandon    their  custom  of  honoring  their 


images. 


That  was  a  rebellion  against  a  weak  and  decaying  govern- 
ment, it  is  true,  and  upon  a  religious  issue,  but  still  a  revolt.  Out 
of  this  revolt,  and  the  confusion  into  which  Italy  fell  between  its 
rebellious  people,  with  their  religious  fanaticism,  and  their  dis- 


ADDRESS    OF   JUDGE    EMOTT.  lol 

taut  and  feeble  rulers,  came  the  acquisition  of  civil  power  by  the 
ecclesiastical  head  of  the  Roman  Church.  He  had  been  a  bishop 
of  a  diocese,  an  archbishop  of  a  province;  be  was  recognized  as 
a  patriarch  of  a  portion  of  the  western  Church.  Now  he  became 
a  leader  of  rebellious  subjects  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  and  so 
a  civil  ruler. 

But  this  is  not  the  whole  history  of  the  beginning  of  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  Pope.  The  Lombards  were  in  Italy,  a  warlike. 
barbarous  race.  Already  established  by  conquest  of  portions 
of  Italy  from  the  enfeebled  Empire,  they  saw  their  opportunity 
in  this  religious  revolt.  They  appeared  in  arms,  announced 
themselves  protectors  of  the  holy  images,  and  overran  the  terri- 
tories then  remaining  under  Imperial  obedience.  From  these 
lawless  conquerors  the  Bishop  of  Rome  first  obtained  a  formal 
gift  of  the  territory  over  which  he  had  exercised  ecclesiastical 
power.  This  was  the  first  donation,  the  oldest  source  of  title  to 
the  temporal  power  of  the  Roman  See. 

But  this  was  a  precarious  title,  and  the  consent  of  these  barba- 
rians was  an  uncertain  dependance.  Zaehary,  then  Pope,  turned 
elsewhere  for  protection  against  his  benefactors.  The  Franks 
were  growing  to  be  the  most  powerful  nation  of  Europe.  Nomi- 
nally governed  by  the  Kings  of  the  Merovingian  race,  they  were 
really  ruled  by  Charles  Martel,  and  then  by  Pepin,  of  whom 
came  Charlemagne.  And  between  the  ambitious  soldier  and  the 
equally  ambitious  priest  a  bargain  was  struck.  The  Pope  sanc- 
tioned the  rebellion  of  Pepin  and  the  deposition  of  Childeric. 
Pepin  in  return  swept  down  on  the  Lombards,  conquered  them 
by  force,  and  gave  the  Pope  the  Roman  States  by  solemn  instru- 
ment. 

That  was  the  second  donation,  the  next  step  in  the  chain  of 
title,  and  such  was  the  price  paid  by  the  donee.  It  was  a  gift  by 
a  usurping  soldier,  a  rebellious  subject,  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
and  it>  consideration  was  the  solemn  and  professedly  religious 
sanction  by  the  Church  of  rebellion  and  usurpation. 

A  few  years  passed  and  other  actors  appeared  to  repeat  the 
transactions.  Pepin  died,  and  Charles  and  Carloman  succeeded. 
Carloman  died  leaving  children,  and  as  titles  go  by  dwi?u  right, 
of  which  the  Romish  clergy  are  fond  of  talking  to-day,  those 
children  were  entitled  to  their  father's  share  in  the  empire,  lint 
again  there  was  a  rebellion  and  a  usurpation.     <  lharles  seized  the 


152  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

whole  kingdom,  to  the  exclusion  and  wrong  of  his'  brother's 
children.  Again  the  Bishop  of  Rome  listened  to  the  voice  of 
power — and  not  the  voice  of  justice — and  was  rewarded  by- 
Charles  for  sanctioning  his  wrong  by  a  fresh  grant  of  territorial 
power.  This  was  the  third  donation.  Now  I  shall  not  follow  the 
lono-  historv  of  ambition  and  contention  between  the  Popes  and  the 
Emperors  through  the  Dark  Ages.  Nor  will  I  stop  to  tell  the  history 
of  the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  Government  in  the  wars  of  the 
French  Revolution,  and  its  restoration  by  the  allied  sovereigns. 
Twice  at  least  in  modern  times  has  the  Pope  been  replaced  on 
his  throne  and  kept  there  by  foreign  soldiers  against  the  will  of 
his  subjects. 

I  have  sketched  the  historical  origin  of  the  Papal  government, 
and  I  have  alluded  to  its  history,  not  because  American  citizens 
can  or  ought  to  see  any  elements  in  such  a  history  by  which  the 
right  of  the  question  between  the  people  of  Italy  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  Pope  as  a  ruler  of  a  part  of  them  on  the  other,  is  to  be 
tried.  We  believe,  if  we  are  not  ready  to  defile  our  fathers'  graves, 
and  to  deny  the  fundamental  principles  on  which  our  govern- 
ment stands,  that  all  governments  depend  for  their  right  to  exercise 
their  powers  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed.    [Applause.]    We 
believe  that  when  a  government  becomes  destructive  of  the  ends 
for  which  only  it  has  a  right  to  exist,  the  protection  of  its  citizens 
in  their  lives,  their  liberties,  and  their  lawful  pursuits,  the  people 
have  a  right  to  change  it,  peaceably  if  they  can,  forcibly  if  they 
must.     Now,  sir,  I   have  seen  it  alleged  in  some  recent    mani- 
festoes of  the  Roman   clergy   and   their   adherents,  that  Rome 
is  the  capital  of  Christendom,  and  does  not  belong  to  Italy,  and 
that  two  hundred  millions  of  Christians  have  given  the  Roman 
States  to  the  Pope.     When,  I  beg  to  ask,  or  how,  was  such  a  gift 
bestowed  ?    More  than  that,  what  right  have  two  hundred  millions 
of  foreigners  to  give  away  the  country  of  the  Italian  people,  and 
the  right  to  govern  them  ?     [Applause.]     No,  this  is  a  question 
for  the  Italian  people,  the  temporal  subjects  of  the  Pope,  and  not 
for  the  millions  of  his  spiritual  adherents  who  never  saw  Italy. 

Sir,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  people  of  the  Papal  States 
have  rebelled  against  the  Pope;  that  they  have  turned  from  him 
to  the  sovereign  and  the  government  of  their  choice,  to  restore  the 
unity  of  Italy,  so  long  interrupted  by  usurpations  and  tyranny, 
built  upon  their  weakness,  and  sustained  by  foreign  power.     It  is 


ADDRESS   OF   JUDGE    EMOTT.  153 

not  to  be  denied  that  all  the  rest  of  Italy  welcomes  their  return, 
and  heartily  co-operates  in  assisting  them  to  rebel  against,  to 
escape  from,  the  power  and  the  government  which  would  have 
prevented  it. 

I  am  not  afraid  to  justify  the  overthrow  of  the  Pope's  govern- 
ment by  the  Roman  people,  with  the  aid  of  the  Italian  army,  as 
a  rebellion.      I  do  not  see  how  anv  American,  no  matter  what  his 
religious  opinions,  can  hesitate  upon  such  a  question.      It  is  only 
necessary  lor  us  at  least  to  see  two  facts — first,  that   the  Papal 
government  was  oppressive;  and  second,  that  its  subjects  desired 
to  be  free  from  its  oppression.     I  assert,  and  for  my  argument  I 
assume  these  propositions,  and  then  I  say  this  movement,  which 
I  am  willing  to  call  a  rebellion,  was  a  righteous  act.     I  sav  I  am 
willing  to  call  it  a  rebellion,  but  I  may  rather  say  it  is  a  resump- 
tion by  a  people   of  power   obtained    and  continued  by    force, 
and  abused  to  oppression.     The  government   of  the   Pope  has 
been  called  a  paternal  government.     His  subjects  say  that  it  was 
a  government  of  absolute   tyranny.       What  else   could   it   be  \ 
Take  the  propositions  of  the  Syllabus,  "  that   the  best  condition 
of  society  is  that  in  which  it  is  the   duty  of  the  government  to 
keep    in    check,  by   punishments,  the   enemies  of  the  Catholic 
Church."     Again,  -that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  keep   in 
check,  by  temporal  punishments,  the  transgressors  of  its  laws." 
Keduce  these  propositions  to  practice  under  a  despotic  Govern- 
ment, controlled  exclusively  by  ecclesiastics,  and  do  you   think 
any  one  could  live  under  it  but  a  slave  ?     Then;  was  no  safe!  v  of 
persons  and  no  rights  of  property  under  the  Papal   government. 
Men  and  women  were  watched,  accused,  arrested,  tried,  and  con- 
demned by  secret  tribunals,  or  imprisoned  without   trial.      There 
were  no  just  trials,  no  public  examinations,  no  law  but  the  abso- 
lute will  of  secret  and  arbitrary  bodies  of  ecclesiastics,  who  would 
punish  heresy  when  they  would  overlook  crime.     The  Pope  might 
annul  any  contract,  as  he  could  make  or  unmake  anv  law.     The 
civil  power  was  simply  the   instrument   of  the  ecclesiastical    au- 
thority, and  the  whole  was  a  tyranny  of  the  worsl    description, 
because  it  was  wielded  by  ecclesiastics. 

Now.  was  it  robbery  for  all  Italy  united  to  rescue  their  Romau 
brethren  from  such  a  yoke  as  this,  and  to  offer  them  a  share  in 
the  government  of  a  \h'e  and  united  kingdom  {  This  i>  no  ambi- 
tious occupation  of  a  feeble  State    by  an    adjacent  Power.      It    is 


154 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


no  question  like  that  of  Denmark  or  Luxembourg,  where  only 
political  and  selfish  motives  control,  and  the  people  who  are  con- 
cerned are  not  even  asked  their  wishes.  I  might  put  the  inter- 
vention of  Victor  Emmanuel  upon  the  right  of  every  nation  to 
help  another  people  struggling  to  be  free.  But  the  right  stands 
on  better  grounds  than  that.  Italy  has  a  right  to  Rome,  because 
all  Italy  is,  by  nature,  by  lineage,  by  language,  one  people,  and 
Rome  is  its  capital.  ISTo  fragment  of  that  people  and  of  that 
country,  organized  into  a  petty  State,  without  the  consent  of  the 
whole,  can  deprive  the  people  of  the  land  of  their  great  imperial 
city.  Still  less  can  any  potentate,  spiritual  or  temporal,  withhold 
from  the  Italian  nation,  when  it  recovered  its  unity,  the  xerx 
heart  of  its  territory,  because  lie  or  his  predecessors  had  seized 
that  fr  igment  when  the  land  was  broken  in  pieces,  and  they  had 
been  strong  enough  or  cunning  enough  to  hold  it  ever  since. 
This  is  not  a  question  of  mere  race.  Italy  is  more  than  a  race ; 
it  is  a  nation.  There  is  an  Italian  people,  and  it  is  not  only  un- 
just, it  is  impossible  that  they  should  not  have  Rome.  Certainly 
it  has  long,  if  not  always,  been  only  a  question  of  time,  and  all 
reflecting  men,  not  ecclesiastics,  have  seen  that  it  was  so. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Papal  States  in  Italy  are  like  the  District 
of  Columbia  here.  There  is  not  the  slightest  analogy  in  the  two 
cases.  The  District  of  Columbia  is  reserved  by  our  whole  nation 
for  the  seat  of  its  supreme  national  authority,  because  none  of  the 
States  should  be  sovereign  in  the  place  where  the  sovereignty  of 
the  whole  body  is  to  reside  and  act.  But  is  the  Pope  the  head 
of  the  Italian  nation  \  Have  that  people  ever  assigned  him  Rome 
as  the  seat  of  the  sovereign  power  of  their  whole  country  (  I 
can,  indeed,  imagine  an  analogous  case  to  the  situation  of  those 
once  Papal  States.  If  this  continent  had  been  discovered  two 
hundred  years  before  it  was,  or  if  this  part  of  it  had  been  peo- 
pled and  governed  by  a  Catholic  Power;  if  such  a  Power,  by 
right  of  discovery  and  occupation,  had  granted  to  the  Pope  Vir- 
ginia, with  those  old  boundaries  which  stretched  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Mississippi,  perhaps  to  the  Pacific,  and  then  he  had 
reigned  by  such  a  title  over  unwilling  subjects  with  such  a  gov- 
ernment as  he  has  maintained  at  Rome,  would  our  fathers,  at  the 
formation  of  this  government,  have  listened  to  his  demands,  and 
left  his  territory  a  barrier  and  a  dark  land  of  separation  between 
two  portions  of  liberated  America?     [Applause.]     The  question 


ADDBESS    OF   JUDGE    EMOTT.  l'.f) 

answers  itself,  and  the  answer  tells  what  the  descendants  of  our 
fathers  ought  to  say  to  reunited  Italy. 

A\  ill  any  free  people  listen  to  a  claim  by  a  prince,  spiritual 
or  temporal,  by  Divine  right  or  forcible  establishment,  to  com- 
pletely separate  their  country  by  interposing  a  district,  sacred 
from  their  interference,  and  beyond  the  will  or  power  of  its  own 
immediate  inhabitants,  to  be  governed  or  misgoverned  at  the 
will  of  an  arbitrary  ruler  '.  Yet  that  the  Pope  demands  of  Italy. 
The  territory  which  lie  claims  stretches  from  sea  to  sea.  It  di- 
vides Italy,  longing  for  freedom  and  for  unity,  by  a  barrier  which 
he  declares  impassable.  The  progress  of  Italy  towards  liberty  and 
the  blessings  of  an  advancing  civilization  under  a  constitutional 
government  as  one  people,  were  stayed  by  this  Christian  ruler, 
who  denied  his  people  any  rights  but  such  as  he  chose  to  permit 
them  to  exercise,  under  a  government  administered  chiefly  ac- 
cording to  his  views  of  their  spiritual  interests.  Claiming  to  be 
the  direct  substitute  on  earth  of  that  Divine  Lord  who  said,  "  My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  he  asserts  his  right  to  a  kingdom 
of  this  world  only  different  from  its  other  kingdoms  because,  no 
matter  what  may  be  its  shortcoming-  or  sins,  no  man  may  lay 
hands  upon  it.  It  is  simply  a  political  structure,  a  temporal 
power,  and  yet  it  is  to  be  sacred  from  all  resistance  by  its  sub- 
jects, when  resistance  to  any  other  power  might  be  justified,  and 
from  all  interference  in  their  behalf  by  kindred  or  neighboring 
States,  no  matter  what  the  occasion. 

Nay,  we  are  distinctly  told  that  the  Pope  cannot  be  the  citi- 
zen or  the  subject  of  any  human  government.  Why  not,  if  ho  i> 
only  a  minister  of  Christ  2  What  is  there  in  that  office,  no  mat- 
ter how  wide  its  spiritual  sway,  which  forbids  its  holder  to  sub 
mit  to  the  civil  authority,  and  to  obey  the  law.-  and  rules  of  his 
country  ? 

By  what  other  right  does  the  Bishop  of  Koine  hold  temporal 
power  than  does  any  other  ruler  \  It  is  no  pail  of  his  ecclesiasti- 
cal office,  and  no  more  given  by  divine  grace  than  the  power 
of  any  king  or  magistrate.  The  Italian  peopleare  of  his  own 
Church,  and  they  n-\  erence  his  office  and  submit  to  his  spiritual 
-way.  Bul  they  have  the  right  to  submil  liis  acts  as  a  civil 
ruler  to  the  same  test  as  those  of  any  other  monarch,  and  to  tn 
the  rightfulness  of  hi-  governraenl  as  thai  of  all  governments  may 

be  tried. 


156  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

There  is  a  doctrine  sometimes  hinted  at  by  the  controversialists 
of  the  Papal  school,  that  human  governments,  unless  dominated 
by  religion  and  ecclesiastics,  are  the  enemy  of  God,  whom  the 
Church  represents.  If  that  be  true,  then  indeed  the  Head  of  the 
Church  cannot  obey  any  man.  But  if  that  be  true,  then  every 
State,  every  human  government  must  be  either  the  subject  or 
the  enemy  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  That  is  a  suggestion  fraught 
with  tremendous  consequences.  "What  faith,  what  allegiance  will 
a  church,  acting  on  such  a  doctrine,  allow  to  a  government  not 
its  followers,  and  therefore  wholly  evil?  And  what  are  to  be  the 
consequences  to  a  church  if  it  presents  not  to  Italy  only,  but  to  all 
the  world,  the  alternative  of  subjection  or  hostility  ?  These  are 
questions  which  I  have  not  the  strength  nor  can  you  spare  the 
time  to  discuss.  I  leave  them  with  you  as  not  the  least  impor- 
tant outgrowths  of  this  Italian  question. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  questions  of  passive  obedience  to  arbitrary 
power,  and  of  the  right  relations  between  the  Church  and  the 
State,  are  not  open  questions  for  Americans.  They  have  been" 
settled  by  our  history  and, our  experience;  they  are  fixed  in  our 
convictions.  We  have  only  to  consider  the  Italian  question  in 
the  light  of  our  own  past  and  present,  to  know  what  answer 
America  owes  to  Italy.  Surely,  from  the  republican  freemen  of 
these  United  States,  but  one  voice  can  go  back  to  the  King  and 
the  people  who  are  at  last  entering  their  own  imperial  city.  May 
God  protect  Italy,  its  liberty,  its  union,  and  its  capital,  and  may 
they  never  be  lost  or  divided.     [Great  applause.] 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.  H.  W.   BELLOWS,  D.D.,  PRESIDENT    OF    THE 
U.   S.   SANITARY  COMMISSION. 

Mr.  President,  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  the  ulterior  object  of  this  great  public 
meeting  should  be  sharply  and  unmistakably  defined,  and  placed 
beyond  the  power  of  misrepresentation  or  misunderstanding.  It 
involves  questions  of  delicacy,  and  touches  differences  of  feeling 
connected  with  the  profoundest  and  most  inflammable  of  all  sub- 
jects. It  is  creditable  to  humanity  that  a  solemn  instinct 
arouses  the  deepest  and  most  jealous  sensibilities  when  the 
sacred  theme  of  religion  is  brought  into  the  arena  of  politics.  It 
becomes,  then,  all  who  take  that  responsibility  to  consider  well 
what  they  say  and  do. 


ADDRESS    OF    DK.    BELLOW-.  157 

Our  country,  America,  took  the  grave  responsibility,  in  laying 
the  foundations  of  our  Government,  to  separate  Church  and 
State,  the  political  and  the  religious  affairs  of  the  people.  It  was 
not  from  any  want  of  interest  in  religion,  as  the  nurse  of  morals 
and  the  security  of  good  government,  that  this  divorce  was  accom- 
plished, but  from  a  conviction  that  a  connection  between  Church 
and  State  necessarily  ended  in  sustaining  some  one  brand)  of 
the  Church  at  the  expense  of,  and  to  the  discredit  of,  other 
brandies;  and  thus  of  violating  the  equal  rights  of  citizens  in 
the  administration  and  protection  of  the  Government,  and 
alienating  their  loyalty.  Moreover,  the  painful  experiences  of 
other  countries,  the  civil  wars,  exasperated  by  religious  hatreds, 
engendered  by  the  union  of  the  State  with  now  the  Catholic 
and  now  the  Protestant  branch  of  the  Church,  had  convinced 
our  founders  that  the  dangers  of  leaving  religious  institutions 

CD  O  CD 

to  the  voluntary  support  of  communities,  or,  at  worst,  to 
their  local  laws,  were  greatly  less  than  the  perils  attending  the 
civil  recognition  of  any  national  or  established  religion.  Experi- 
ence has  proved  that  religion  thrives  best,  at  least  in  our  soil, 
when  the  State  leaves  it  to  that  unhampered  conscience  and  free 
sense  of  its  inherent  worth  and  importance,  felt  by  the  people 
acting  in  their  private  capacity.  No  country  in  the  world,  in 
the  annual  pecuniary  contributions  rendered  by  the  free-will 
and  the  unforced  liberality  of  the  people  toward  the  support  of 
religious  institutions,  lias  ever  given  such  evidence  of  the  value 
it  sets  upon  public  worship  and  moral  and  spiritual  instruction 
as  America.  However  we  may  deplore  the  too  limited  influence 
of  religion  in  our  live-  and  hearts  and  in  our  land,  we  have  oot, 
as  Americans,  the  least  doubt  that  under  anv  compulsory  or 
established  system  of  religion  the  interests  of  faith  and  piety 
would  be  vastly  less  efficiently  supported. 

With  a  population  composed  of  the  children  of  the  oldest  and 
the  newesl  faiths. — Jewish,  Catholic,  Protestant,  Orthodox,  He- 
terodox, Christian  and  Pagan,— -it  is  of  course  to  the  last  degree 
important  that  our  political  institutions  should  appeal  to  some 
thing  in  which  we  all  agree,  or  at  least  to  nothing  in  which  we 
conscientiously  disagree.  We  can'nol  touch  the  question  of  reli- 
gious dogma  or  church  polity,  in  our  political  capacity,  without 
necessarily  and  properly  stirring  up  a  hornet's  not  of  Stinging 
partialities  and  antipathies,  which   must    light    upon  the    body 


158 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


politic  to  prick  and  poison  it  to  death.  The  only  safety  for  our 
political  union  and  the  civil  liberty  we  enjoy  is,  not  to  embroil  our 
politics  with  ecclesiastical  and  dogmatic  faith  and  polity.  As 
Americans,  we  forego  in  oar  political  relations  all  the  advan- 
tages which  might,  in  the  judgment  of  some,  accrue  to  our 
several  religious  organizations  from  Government  recognition  and 
support.  The  Government,  we  insist,  shall  neither  know  Catho- 
lic nor  Protestant,  believer  nor  disbeliever,  Jew  nor  Christian. 
It  has  no  ecclesiastical  nor  theological  preferences,  and  no  favors 
to  bestow  on  any  church.  We  are  willing;,  nav,  we  are  com- 
pelled,  to  take  the  risk,  if  any  there  be,  of  this  entire  disconnec- 
tion between  the  Church  and  the  State.  It  is  the  American 
policy,  and  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Union. 

So  well  satisfied  with  it  has  experience  taught  us  as  a  people 
to  be,  that  we  look  with  the  profoundest  sympathy  and  interest 
upon  every  attempt  prudentl}7  made  in  other  countries  to  discon- 
nect the  Church  and  the  State.  We  have  become  convinced  that 
their  close  connection  is  thoroughly  unfavorable  to  political  equal- 
ity, popular  rights,  and  civil  freedom,  not  to  speak  of  religious 
liberty.  And  it  is  alike  our  duty  and  our  privilege  to  give  our 
moral  encouragement  to  all  peoples  making  any  advances  in  the 
direction  of  a  permanent  divorce  between  Church  and  State. 

When  the  English  Ministry  lately  disestablished  the  Church 
of  England  in  Ireland,  favorable  as  it  was  to  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics of  that  country,  did  we  withhold,  from  any  want  of  sym- 
pathy with  that  Church,  our  congratulations?  Should  we  next 
year  fail  to  express  our  profound  satisfaction  if  the  Protestant 
Church  of  England  were  disestablished  in  Great  Britain,  or  the 
Kirk  in  Scotland  ?  We  have  no  business  to  meddle  with  their 
affairs ;  but  it  is  our  duty  and  privilege  to  congratulate  them  when 
they  move  in  a  direction  which  not  only  accords  -with  our  con- 
victions of  political  justice  and  progress,  but  strengthens  our 
position  -at  home. 

In  like  manner,  when  united  Italy  takes  repossession  of  its 
territorial  and  ancestral  capital,  and  says  that  ecclesiastical  and 
religious  obstacles  shall  not  block  the  way,  or  defeat  the  aim  at 
civil- and  political  self-government  and  national  unity,  we  send 
Italy  our  heartfelt  and  profound  congratulations.  We  do  not 
stop  to  inquire  what  ecclesiastical  organization  or  religious  creed 
is  disfavored  or  disestablished  by  this  step.     It  might  be  Protes- 


ADDKESS    OF    DR.    BELLOWS.  150 

tant,  it  may  be  Catholic  :  it  might  be  Heterodox,  it  may  be 
Orthodox.  It  is  the  same  to  us.  What  we  simply  recognize  Is 
this:  Apolitical  church,  do  matter  which,  has  for  generations 
made  it  impossible  for  the  Italian   people   to  occupy  the  capital, 

which  is  the  natural  and  traditional  centre  and  symbol  of  its  na- 
tion ality — the  heart  of  its  unity,and  its  true  political  head.  An 
ecclesiastic  has  reigned  there  as  a  politician  !  Religion  has  set 
itself  up  over  politics,  and  become  itself  the  politics  of  a  govern- 
ment within  a  government.  This,  as  Americans,  we  say,  is  fatal 
to  the  civil  and  religious  freedom  of  Italy  ;  and  be  ir  Pope,  Pa- 
triarch, Protestant  Archbishop,  Grand  Llama,  or  High  Priest, 
we  are  equally  and  utterly  opposed  to  it  in  opinion,  although 
without  any  right  to  interfere  with  it  otherwise  than  by  sym- 
pathy toward  the  Italian  people,  self-moved  and  self-sustained 
in  their  aspirations  to  freedom.  This*  is  the  whole  question  for 
us,  so  far  as  we  can  act  or  propose  to  act  upon  public  sentiment, 
at  home  or  abroad.  We  do  not  propose  to  deny  that  there  are 
for  the  world  at  large,  and  specially  for  the  Christian  world,  two 
sides  to  the  question.  But  to  American  citizens  there  is  but  one 
side.    [Applause.] 

We  have  no  right,  as  American  citizens,  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion as  Roman  Catholics  or  as  Protestants.  Roman  Catholicism 
has  the  same  rights  in  America  as  Protestantism,  as  Judaism 
no  less  and  no  more.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  a  right 
to  use  her  utmost  endeavors  as  an  independent  and  voluntary 
organization,  by  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  to  build  itself  up  in  this 
country.  She  may  claim  the  full  protection  of  our  laws,  so  far 
as  they  are  extended  to  all  other  churches.  If  she  can  persuade  I  he 
people  to  adopt  her  creed  and  policy,  she  has  a  perfect  right  to  do 
it.  She  has  a  right  freely  to  express  lier  opinion  of  Protestant- 
ism, and  to  exhibit  its  weakness  and  peril  and  sinfulness,  to  call 
it  unchristian  and  immoral  if  she  will,  and  to  prove  her  word-,  if 
she  can.  Protestantism  may  do  the  same  by  her.  if  she  think-  it 
wise,  and  if  her  convictions  incline  ami  compel  her  to  this  course. 
Either  may  properly  Use  whatever  moral  power  it  possesses  to 
diminish  the  importance  and  influence  of  the  oilier.  But 
when  either  Protestants  or  Catholics  attempt  toenlist  the  Govern- 
ment or  to  subsidize  National  or  State  funds  in  favdr  oi  their 
sectarian  and  theological  or  ecclesiastical  support,  they  are  vio 
luting  the    spirit  and  the    letter  of  our    National    and    our   State 


160  UNITY   OF   ITALY. 

Constitutions.  When  a  devout  and  excellent  class  of  Protestant 
citizens  lately  proposed  to  have  the  dogma  of  Christ's  Deity,  so 
widely  credited  and  revered  by  American  Christians,  made  apart 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  it  was  a  dangerous  and 
an  anti-national  attempt  on  the  rights  of  conscience  of  the  Jew 
and  of  some  Protestant  Christian  sects,  and  it  deserved  the  cen- 
sure and  opposition  of  the  American  people,  without  regard 
to  the  truth  or  importance  of  the  dogma  itself.  When  the  Catho- 
lics use  their  political  power  in  this  State  as  the  make-weight  of 
parties,  to  secure  large  appropriations  from  the  State  Govern- 
ment for  the  support  of  Roman  Catholic  schools  and  charities, 
they  violate  the  same  principle,  and  lay  the  seeds  of  future  strifes 
perilous  to  our  political  institutions.  When  Protestants  insist 
that  the  Bible  shall  be  read  in  the  public  schools,  they  blindly 
encourage  the  Catholics  to* demand  a  ruinous  secession  from  our 
system  of  common  schools,  supported  at  the  public  expense.  They 
force  religion  into  our  politics  ;  they  attempt  a  union  between 
Church  and  State  ;  they  unwittingly  justify  Catholics  in  demand- 
ing their  share  in  the  public  moneys  devoted  to  education.  As 
Protestants,  as  Catholics,  we  have  no  share  in  those  public 
moneys.  It  is  only  as  American  citizens  that  we  can  claim  or 
properly  receive  them. 

It  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  American  Catholics  have  not  a 
right  to  believe  in  the  union  of  Church  and  State — but  as  Ameri- 
can citizens  they  have  no  right  to  demand  any  national  or  politi- 
cal attention  to  their  belief.  Their  bishops  and  archbishops  may 
teach  this  union  from  their  ecclesiastical  chairs.  American  citi- 
zens generally  cannot  but  hold  the  opinion  as  one  perilous  and 
to  be  met  with  earnest  argument,  even  while  it  confines  itself  to 
sermons  and  services,  to  persuasion  and  logic  ;  but  when  it  em- 
bodies itself  in  political  acts  and  legislation,  it  is  unconstitutional 
and  treasonable,  and  to  be  met  with  forcible  resistance.  ■  Acted 
out,  it  is  a  death-blow  struck  at  our  civil  and  religious  liberties. 

It  is  important  to  make  all  candid  and  fair  allowances  for  the 
feelings,  and  what  sometimes  seem  the  designs  of  Roman  Catho- 
lics in  regard  to  the  institutions  and  religious  liberties  of  this 
country.  They  represent  a  system  which,  in  the  Old  World, 
has  never  conceded  the  possible  separation  of  Church  and  State  ; 
a  sjTstem  which  teaches  the  rightful  supremacy  of  the  Church 
over  the  State ;  a  system  which   for  centuries  has   prevailed  in 


ADDRESS   OF   DR.    BELLOWS.  16] 

vast  kingdoms,  and  over  hundreds  of  millions  of  people, — not 
without  tin1  concurrence  of  great  and  noble  men,  emperors, 
sages,  statesmen  and  political  philosophers.  Nay,  it  is  not  to  be 
assumed  that  in  all  stages  of  civilization,  and  everywhere,  this 
union  has  been  a  calamity  and  a  mistake.  The  Church  has 
sometimes  been  more  intelligent,  free,  and  democratic  than  the 
State.  Pontiffs  and  bishops  have  been  wiser  and  hotter  than 
emperors  and  kings.  The  priesthood  has  been  more  friendly  to 
truth  and  liberty  than  the  people.  It  cannot  be  asserted  that 
Church  and  State  are,  under  all  circumstances,  incapable  of  mar- 
riage, and  that  the  banns  are  forbidden  by  nature  and  humanity. 
It  may  be  right  and  politic  in  other  nations  to  maintain  the 
union  for  a  while,  and  unwise  in  us  to  discountenance  it  there. 
Some  of  the  best  and  wisest  men  in  England  maintain  the  ex- 
pediency of  the  English  Establishment  on  political  as  well  as 
religious  grounds.  All  we  need  say  is  that  in  America  we  have 
got  beyond  it,  have  abolished  it,  have  forbidden  it;  are  satisfied 
with  the  safety  and  blessedness  of  the  policy  of  the  .National 
Constitution,  and  are  hound  and  are  determined  to  maintain  it. 
Nothing  else  suits  or  can  co-exist  with  our  democratic  institu- 
tions. We  favor  it  by  sympathy  when  it  arises  in  other  conn- 
tries,  just  as  we  favor  Republicanism  in  South  America,  in 
France,  in  Spain,  everywhere  ;  not  by  urging  it,  or  interfering 
to  support  it,  but  by  eagerly  encouraging  the  movements  in 
those  and  in  all  countries  that  spontaneously  set  up  the  banner 
which  honors  and  copies  our  own  Stars  and  Stripes. 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  two  fundamentally  different  poli- 
cies divide  the  world  in  respect  of  government.  The  policy  of 
self-government,  which  is  new.  rare,  and  American,  and  the 
policy  of  a  government  of  birth,  title,  merit,  power-  by  hypo- 
thesis  representing  the  best,  the  aristoi,  who,  in  the  shape  of 

king   and    cabinet,   nobles   and   princes,  rule  the   | pie     not  in 

accordance  with  their  views  and  wishes,  or  by  their  consent,  but 
by  the  strong  hand  of  the  sword,  bet  us  not  he  so  ill-taughl  in 
history  as  not  to  know  that  this  latter  policy  has  been  in  earlier 
time-  a  wholesome  though  painful  necessity,  ami  perhapa  con 
tin ues  to  be  so  still  in  some  countries.  Now  where  this  policy 
obtains,  and  can  justify  itself  by  necessity,  it  is  perfectly  intel- 
ligible thai  tin-  State  Bhould  desire  the  countenance  and  aupporl 
of  the  Church,  and  exchange  advantages  with  it;  and  thai  the 


162  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Church  should  claim,  and  flourish  in  claiming  and  enjoying,  alli- 
ance with  the  State.  The  union  is  not  unnatural  or  impolitic 
under  aristocratic,  imperial,  or  monarchical  governments,  and  it 
is  no  discredit  to  those  who  believe  in  them,  to  declare  that  the 
throne  and  the  altar  must  sink  together,  must  co-exist  in  close 
alliance,  or  die  in  separation.  If  the  Church  be  Chang  and  the 
State  Eng,  it  is  no  wonder  that  both  dread  the  knife  that  offers 
to  separate  them — for  the  blessed  liberty  it  would  promise  to 
either  might  be  purchased  with  the  death  of  both.  When  para- 
lysis attacks  Chang,  it  becomes  a  different  question  for  Eng.  It 
is  probable  that  even  monarchical  constitutions,  liberal  as  they 
sometimes  are,  must  perish  when  Church  and  State  are  wholly 
divorced.  Eno-land's  crown  will  probably  not  long;  survive  that 
separation.  But  we  were  not  born  to  any  Siamese  bond  of 
Church  and  Crown.  We  set  up  a  free  State,  and  free  churches 
set  themselves  up  in  that  State.  We  began  in  distinct  separa- 
tion. AVe  have  flourished  both  as  to  Church  and  State  in  that 
separation,  and  we  have  come  to  believe  that  civil  liberty  is  im- 
possible without  religious  liberty,  or  religious  liberty  without 
civil  liberty. 

For  the  sake  of  freedom  in  the  Church  and  freedom  in  the 
State,  we  cannot  admit  a  union  here  which  we  respect  elsewhere 
under  certain  conditions  foreign  to  our  own,  and  might  even  ad- 
mit to  be  politic  and  wrise.  •  Where  political  liberty  is  not  prized 
nor  understood  we  do  not  wonder  that  religious  liberty  is  sur- 
rendered, or  sought  at  the  expense  of  the  consciences  of  others. 

Now  it  is  certainly  natural  that  those  who  believe  in  a  Church 
that  ever  craved  and  possessed  in  Europe  union  with  the  State, 
should  hanker  after  it  here.  It  is  a  merely  historical  fact,  and 
affirmed  without  disrespect  to  that  Church,  that  the  Catholic 
Church  is  based  upon  theories  identical  with  those  which  under- 
lie monarchical  political  institutions.  A  hierarchy  and  a  nobility 
correspond — a  Pope  and  an  Emperor;  Cardinals  and  Princes  ; 
Bishops  and  Lords.  Aristocratic  institutions  in  State  and  Church 
both  proceed  on  the  theory — true  enough  in  the  infancy  of  so- 
ciety— that  the  people  are  incapable  of  governing  themselves. 
America  says  to  both,  It  may  be  so  in  Europe;  it  shan't  be  so 
here.  We  are  going  to  try  it,  anyhow.  What  was  true  for 
thousands  of  years  may  be  true  no  longer  !  We  have  a  new  hem- 
isphere, and  we  are  going  to   have  a  new   era  !      We   believe 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    BELLOW.-.  1  •'»■". 

enough  in  humanity  and  its  present  advance  to  risk  our  lives 
upon  the  experiment  of  self-government.  We  will  bravely  take 
all  the  uncertainties,  all  the  waning  doubts  from  Old  World  ex 
perience,  upon  our  own  heads.  It  may  be  dangerous,  it  may  be 
impossible;  but  we  don't  believe  it.  and  at  any  rate  we  are  go- 
ing to  try  it.  And.  as  ir  is  illogical  and  impossible  to  have  a 
free  State  without  a  free  Church,  we  propose  to  run  all  the  risks 
for  time  and  eternity  connected  with  the  divorce  of  Church  and 
State.  Each  tub  shall  stand  on  its  own  bottom — Church  and 
State — and  both  shall  be  free.  jStow,  if  our  respected  Roman 
Catholic  citizens  believe  in  only  half  our  theory,  we  have  no 
power  and  no  right  to  enforce  the  other  half  upon  them  by  any 
political  means.  For  a  free  Church  means  a  Church  that  shall 
not  be  forced  in  any  way  by  the  State.  But  a  free  State  equally 
means  a  State  that  shall  not  in  any  way  be  forced  by  the  Church. 

The  Catholic  Church,  therefore,  may  safely  teach  the  capacity 
of  man  in  America  for  self-government  in  politics,  and  his  inca- 
pacity for  self-government  in  religion.  Some  Protestants,  I  dare 
say,  receive  the  same  belated  opinion.  But  so  long  as  the  main- 
tenance of  the  aristocratic  idea  in  religion  does  not  involve  the 
overthrow  of  the  popular  idea  in  politics,  we  have  not,  as  American 
citizens,  a  word  to  say  against  it,  But  that  it  is  difficult  and  per- 
haps impossible  to  maintain  a  disconnection  between  the  Church 
idea  of  subordination  and  a  plan  and  purpose  of  political  subor- 
dination, it  is  important  to  keep  in  view.  American  citizens  do 
not  propose  to  allow  their  political  institutions  to  be  sacrificed  to 
any  romantic  confidence  in  ecclesiastics  of  either  a  Protestant  or 
Catholic  school.  We  musl  be  on  the  watch  !  When,  therefore, 
bishops  and  archbishops  attempt  to  govern  votes  and  to  influence 
legislation  by  ecclesiastical  considerations,  we  ought  all  to  take 
the  alarm.  When  a  foreign  ruler  i-  recognized  as  having  any 
power  in  our  politics,  it  is  time  to  look  sharply  into  the  theories 
and  practices  of  those  who  uphold  his  right,   [Applause.] 

It  is  from  no  hostility  to  any  church  or  any  class  of  religion- 
ists, from  no  partiality  to  any  sect  or  school,  but  from  allegiance 
to  our  institutions  and  to  the  cause  of  civil  and  religion-  liberty, 
that  we  express  our  sympathy  with  Italy's  glorious  emancipation 
from  hierarchical  politics  in  tier  capital,  and  America'-  determi- 
nation not  to  Bee  Italy's  misfortune,  by  any  address  of  others  or 
negligence  of  our  own,  foisted  upon  this  country. 
11 


164  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Freedom  in  the  State,  freedom  in  the  Church, political  liberty, 
religious  liberty,  are  slowly,  surely  working  toward  each  other  in 
all  countries.     Alps  of  long-established  customs  and  ancient  ne- 
cessities have  interposed  between  them,  and  lain  heavy  upon  them 
both.   They  have  been  sought  independently  by  different  genera- 
tions, and  by  different  reformers  in  the  same  generation.     They 
were  sought  together  and  at  the  same  time  by  our  fathers.     It  is 
political  freedom  that  Italy  is  seeking.     It  was  religious  freedom 
that  Germany  was  seeking  in  the  days  of  Luther.     But  really, 
begin  at  either  end,  humanity  is  always  working  at  the  same  tun- 
nel, in  the  same  mountain,  and  at  the  same  level,  for  Freedom  is 
her  own  engineer,  and  her  plans  have  a  more  than  scientific  unity. 
Already  the  two  opposite  bands  of  laborers  are,  as  in  the  tunnel 
of  Mt.  Cenis,  approaching  each  other.    Their  pickaxes  are  heard 
by  each  other  through  the  rocky  veil  that  separates  them.    Nay  ; 
their  encouraging  halloo  pierces  the  granite  wall  ;  the  first  gleam 
of  their  torches  thrills  each  other's  hearts  as  their  eyes  meet.  The 
Alpine  range  is  abolished,  and  civil  and  religious  liberty  rush 
into  each  other's  arms.     [Applause.] 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  HORACE  GREELEY. 
Mr.   Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  Among  the  most 
memorable  public  assemblies  with  which  I  ever  mingled  in   this 
city  was  that  which  met  in  our  great  Broadway  Tabernacle,  on 
the  29th  of  November,' 1847,  to  celebrate,  with  appropriate  con- 
gratulations, the  demonstration  then  just  made,  by  which  Pope 
Pius  IX.  had  identified  himself  with  the  great  liberal  movement 
then  spreading  over  Italy.     There  was  in  the  chair  the  Mayor  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  whose  successor  ought  to  be  here  to-night. 
[Great  applause.]      There    were    on    either    side    of   him    the 
Mayors  of  Brooklyn  and  Jersey  City  as  Vice-Presidents,  and  asso- 
ciated with  them  some  fifteen  or  twenty  of  our  most  eminent  citi- 
zens of  all  parties  and  of  all    religious  denominations.     Among 
those  from  whom  we  received  letters  of  sympathy  were  ex-Presi- 
dent Van  Buren   and  his  son  John  Van  Buren  (the  President  to 
be),   James    Buchanan,   Thomas    II.   Benton,  Wm.   H.  Seward, 
John  C.  Spencer,  Rufus  Choate,  Edward  Everett,  and  nearly  all 
that  was  most  eminent  among  the  public  men,  the  notable  and  emi- 
nent statesmen  of  the  United  States.     No  party  lines  divided  us, 
but  there  was  one  general  spirit  of  congratulation  and  joy  at  the 


ADDRESS  OF  HORACE  GREELEY.  L65 

movement  which  had  placed  as  it  were  the  head  of  the  most  ven- 
erable Church  in  Western  Christendom  in  the  front  of  the  greal 
liberal  movement  in  the  whole  world.  Our  speakers  on  that 
occasion  were  James  W.  Gerard,  who,  I  trust,  is  here  to-niffht 
[laughter],  Jos.  S.  Bosworth,  David  Dudley  Field,  and  others  of 
our  ablest  statesmen.  I  will  not  speak  of  the  Address  adopted 
on  that  occasion,  since  I  reported  it;  but  the  resolutions  wherein 
New  York  poured  forth  its  heart,  and,  I  may  say,  gave  the  assent 
of  its  understanding  also  to  this  great  movement,  are  very  brief, 
and  T  will  ask  you  to  consider  those  resolutions: — 

Resolved,  That  we  regard  with  the  highest  interest  the  progress 
of  free  institutions  in  all  countries,  and  especially  in  one  to 
which  we  are  so  much  indebted  as  Italy,  whose  laws  and 
whose  military  and  civic  polity  have  penetrated  the  institutions 
of  half  the  modern  world. 

Resolved,  That  the  past  history  and  the  present  condition  of 
the  Italians  have  made  them  the  objects  of  peculiar  interest  with 
all  Christendom.  The  renown  of  Ancient  Rome — the  glory  of 
the  republics  of  the  Middle  Ages — the  arts  of  modern  Italy — 
the  mournful  history  of  her  struggles  and  her  sufferings— have 
made  her  fate  an  object  of  especial  solicitude  with  all  scholars. 
all  lovers  of  the  beautiful,  all  admirers  of  heroic  deeds,  and  all  re- 
publicans. 

Resolved,  That  no  freeman  can  look  coldly  on  the  present 
struggle  of  the  Italians  for  national  independence  and  constitu- 
tional liberty;  that  our  hearts  have  been  with  them  since  the 
first  movement  when  the  cry  of  freedom  was  uttered,  and  will 
beat  for  them  until  all  Italy  is  tree  from  Calabria  to  the  Alps. 

Resolved,  That  we  present  most  hearty  and  respectful  salu- 
tations  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff;  that,  knowing  the  difficulties 
with  which  he  is  surrounded  at  home,  and  the  attacks  with  which 
he  is  menaced  from  abroad,  we  honor  him  more  for  the  mild  firm- 
ness with  which  he  has  overcome  the  one,  and  the  true  spirit 
with  which  he  has  repelled  the  other. 

Resolved,  Thai  the  cvy  of  freedom  again   in    Italy  is  a  sound 
which  will  summon  the  brave  and  the  free  of  all  nations  to  en- 
courage  with    their    voices,  and    to   assisl   with    their   strength,  if 
need    be.  the    Italian    people    in    their  struggle  for  liberty  and  in 
dependence. 

Resolvi  L  Thai  k;  Peace  hath  her  victories  no  less  renown,, I 
than  War,"  and  thai  the  noble  attitude  of  Pius  IX.,  throwing 
the  vast  influence  of  the  Pontificate  into  the  scale  of  well  .•it- 
tempered  free, loni.  standing  a-  the  advocate  of  peaceful  progress, 
the  promoter  al  once  of  social  amelioration,  industrial  develop 
inent,  and   political   reform,  unmoved   by  the  parade  of  hostile 


166  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

armies  hovering  on  his  borders,  hopeful  for  man,  and  trusting  in 
God,  is  the  grandest  spectacle  of  our  day,  full  of  encouragement 
and  promise  to  Europe,  more  grateful  to  us  and  more  glorious  to 
himself  than  triumphs  on  a  hundred  battle-fields. 

So  resolved  unanimously  New  York,  a  little  more  than  twenty- 
three  years  ago.  Many  of  the  men  who  thus  spoke  have  passed 
away;  some  of  them  are  with  us.  Our  Chairman  now,  who  could 
not  then  be  present,  sent  us  a  word  of  earnest  and  hopeful 
congratulation  [applause],  and  regretted  that  he  could  not  be 
here.  In  these  twenty-three  years,  so  memorable,  so  full  of 
grand  and  living  events,  there  has  been,  I  trust,  some  progress. 
Slavery  has  perished  in  America  [applause],  serfdom  in  Russia 
[applause],  and,  with  many  drawbacks  and  some  discourage- 
ments, we  may  say  that,  on  the  whole,  the  movement  of  the 
human  race  has  been  forward.     [Applause.] 

Fellow-citizens,  those  resolutions  expressed  our  sentiments 
then,  my  sentiments  still.  I  think  I  may  fairly  say,  not  proudly, 
with  the  great  Apostle  : — "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,"  but 
firmly  in  his  good  words: — "  I  have  kept  the  faith."  I  believe 
that  the  majority  of  us  have  kept  the  faith.  [Applause.]  I 
believe  that  those  sentiments  are  the  sentiments  of  New  York 
and  our  country  to-day  ;  and  they  who  depart  from  them,  they 
who  turn  back  or  who  fall  back  in  this  great  struggle,  shall  not 
be  able  to  cover  themselves  with  the  mantle  of  silence.  The 
world  shall  yet  move  on,  taking  them  with  or  leaving  them  be- 
hind it.  Those  truths  shall  be  proclaimed  and  established  as  the 
general  sentiment  of  enlightened,  generous,  thoughtful  men  all 
over  the  globe,  and  the  world  shall  yet  rejoice  in  their  triumph, 
and  in  the  assent  thereto  of  potentates  and  hierarchs,  all  through 
Christendom,  and  wherever  civilization  exists.  In  that  trust  I 
rejoice  in  the  multitude  who  have  come  together  to-night  to 
testify  to  the  truth,  although  some  are  timid,  some  fearful  that 
if  they  appear  here,  it  will  be  the  end  of  their  hopes  and  their 
political  aspirations.  [Laughter.]  I  know  men  who  ought  to 
have  been  with  us,  and  who  sent  private  apologies — who  believe 
with  us,  believe  we  are  all  right ;  but  believe  it  is  not  quite 
time  for  them  to  be  just  right. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  people  of  New  York  believe  these  senti- 
ments without  any  but.  [Applause.]  The  word  shall  go  forth, 
shall  be  heard  by  kings  and  prelates,  heard  also  by  the  trembling, 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    ADAMS.  107 

hoping  masses  all  over  the  world,  that  the  American  Republic, 
by  a  vast  majority  of  her  people,  sympathizes  with  Italy,  and  re- 
joices that  she  is  united  and  free.     [Great   applause.  ] 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.   WILLIAM  ADAMS,  D.D.,  LL.D.* 

AVhatisthe  secret  of  this  extraordinary  assemblage,  and  the 
interest  bordering  on  enthusiasm   with  which  we  celebrate  the 

completion  of  national  unity  throughout  the  peninsula  of  Italy? 
Surely  not  the  simple,  isolated  fact  that  a  country,  separated  from 
us  by  the  wide  ocean,  has  adjusted  its  political  organization  ac- 
cording to  its  own  aspirations.  Lively  as  it  might  he  supposed  our 
interest  in  such  an  event  would  he,  our  sympathy  for  Italy  itself 
as  a  nation — Italy,  that  fair  daughter  of  the  sun — that  land  <A' 
classic  memories — that  land  of  history  and  of  art  —the  land  which 
gave  birth  to  Christopher  Columbus,  who  gave  America  to 
the  world,  thus  balancing  the  hemispheres — that  land  which  has 
quivered  with  intense  passion  from  Sicily  to  the  Alps  in  alter 
nations  of  agony  and  of  hope,  and  now  is  radiant  with  exultant 
joy — lively  as  our  sympathy  might  he  with  such  a  land,  and 
hearty  our  congratulations  towards  her  in  her  now  completed 
unification,  if  this  were  all,  then  there  would  have  been  far  more 
moderation  in  the  manner  in  which  that  interest  was  expressed. 
Other  nations  have  recently  been  unified  by  political  affinities 
and  political  necessities  without  exciting  anything  like  enthu- 
siasm outside  of  their  own  citizenship.  We  have  looked  upon 
the  spectacle  in  such  cases — I  will  not  say  uninterested,  hut  un- 
excited — very  much  as  we  have  seen  in  a  winter's  day,  water  and 
grass  and  sticks  unified  by  the  frost  into  a  solid  and  compact 
mass  of  ice.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  difference  of  feeling  in 
such  cases?  I  will  tell  you.  The  profound  and  irrepressible 
interest  which  is  felt  by  all  thought  fid.  well-informed  men  in 
this  country  in  Italian  unification,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances 
in  which  it  was  accomplished,  is  explained  by  the  fact  thai  l»\ 
the  quickest  instinct  they  have  interpreted  that  event  a-  related 
to  the  vitalities  of  our  religion — to  the  advancement  of  the  king 
(linn  of  Christ  to  the  great  cause  of  religious  liberty  through 
out  the  world,  and   especially  as    bearing    upon  all  our  own  pi. 

*  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  (his  Address  was  nut  delivered  before  t li<- 
meeting.     Its  substance  is  here   published  aa   it   was  furnished  bj   the  distil 
guLshed  orator,  at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Commits  e 


168  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

pects  and  prosperity,  as  a  free  and  Christian  nation.     I  refer  now 
to  something  very  different  from  all   theological  dogmas.     I  say 
not  a  word,  in  this  connection,  after  the  manner  of  polemics,  in 
the   way  of  denouncing  particular  opinions  or  polities   of    the 
Papal,  as  distinguished  from   the  Protestant  Church.     I  am  to 
speak  to  you  of  something  far  deeper,  more  fundamental,  as  per- 
taining to  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.     You  have  heard  much 
of  the  voice  of  the  American  people  in  view  of  the  event  refer 
red  to,  — America  speaking  in   terms  of  gratulation  to  Italy.     I 
wish  you   now  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  Founder  of  our  re- 
ligion.    I  beg  you  to   understand  it  well — that  distinction  be- 
tween  spiritual  and   political   power,  which  was  made  so  clear 
and  sharp  by  Jesus  Christ,  at  the  very  beginning  ;   a  distinction 
which,  unhappily,  has  been  lost  sight  of  for  centuries  ;  and   be- 
cause it   has  been   lost  out  of  view,  the  world  has  been  cursed 
and  blighted  by  despotisms  cruel  and  contemptible  ;  a  distinction 
which,  in   the  Providence  of  God,  is  coming  up  more  and  more 
clearly  into  view  again  ;  a  distinction  which  is  now  being  enacted 
before  the   eye   of  the  world,  not  only  in  the  Italian  peninsula, 
but  in   many  other  countries   also,  with  more  or  less  of  promi- 
nence ;  a  distinction  which  is  certain  to  become  more  and   more 
palpable,  as  time  advances,  throughout  the  world  ; — -a  distinction 
in  which  all  our  success  and  prosperity,  nay,  our  very  existence 
as  a  nation,  is  inevitably  involved; — a  distinction   between  the 
power  of  truth  and  the  power  of  the  sword  ; — a  distinction  which 
enfolds,  as  in  a  germ,  all  the  problems  of  modern  history,  all  the 
hopes  and   prospects  of  civilized  society  ; — a  distinction  which 
instinctively  interprets  many  recent  events  as  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance to  the  cause  of  all  Christian  liberty  and  progress  ;  and 
which  ought,  when  well  planted  in   our  minds,  to  send  across 
the    sea,   fuller,  louder,  and    stronger   than   the    surges    of   the 
Western  Ocean,  like  the  Allelulias  of  Apocalyptic  choruses,  the 
gratitude  and  delight  of  the  whole  American  people  at  every  on- 
ward stride  of  that  liberty  wherewith  Christ  maketh  us  free. 

k'My  kingdom,"  said  Jesus  Christ,  "is  not  of  this  world:  if 
my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  fight, 
that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews.  To  this  end  was  I 
born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should 
bear  witness  to  the  truth."*      Here    our   Lord  makes  the  dis- 

*  John  xviii.  36,  37. 


VDDRESS    OF    DR.     ADAMS.  I  69 

tinction    between    :i    kingdom    of  this    world    and    a   kingdom 

which  is  not  of  this  world;  a  kingdom  which  tights  by  the 
sword,  and  a  kingdom  which  is  governed  and  extended  by  truth, 
and  nothing  besides. 

Tn  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  uttered  there  is  but 
one  sense  winch  these  words  may  honestly  convey.     Our  Lord 
was  arraigned  before  Pontiu-  Pilate,  the  representative  of  Roman 
Imperialism,  on   the  charge  of  treason   against  the  State       lb- 
was   accused  of  a  design   to   establish   a  political  dynasty  sub- 
versive of  that  of  Caesar.      To  that  charge  he  replied,  '•  My  king- 
dom is  not  of  this  world."     To  put  any  subtle  and  occult,  sense 
into  those  words  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  their  obvious  mean- 
ing, as  some  have  labored  to  do,  is  not  only  dishonest  in   itself, 
but  a  most  serious  implication  of  the  character  of  Christ  himself, 
such   as  no  one  would  be  willing  to  associate  with  the  author 
of  our  religion.     He  knew  whereof  he  was  accused;  the  charge 
was  specific — a  design   to   erect  a  temporal   kingdom — and    be 
knew   how  his   answer   was    understood.       That    answer   was   a 
full   disclaimer  of   all   such   intentions.      He   disavowed   all    po- 
litical   power.       .Never    had    he    purposed    to    establish    such    a 
kingdom  as  was   implied   in  the   accusation   of  his  enemies.      He 
was    indeed,    a-    he   said,   a    King,   and   a  kingdom   among   men 
he    did    project;     but    his  kingdom    was  not  of   this    world — it 
was    in    and    of   the  truth.       lie  came  into  the  world    for    this 
end,  that  he  might  bear  witness  to  the  truth.     Coercion  by  the 
-word,  by  any  of  the  means   and    weapons   which   belong  to   the 
kingdoms  of  this  world,  he  disclaimed    positively    and    peremp- 
torily.    If  his  kingdom  were  of  this   world,  then  would  his  ser 
vants  tight,  that  he  should   not    he  delivered   to  the  -lews     hut 
now  that  his    Kingdom  was   not    of  the  world   but    of  the   truth, 
he  would  use  no  violence;  and  when  a  little  while  before  one  of 
his  disciples,  in  his  impetuous  passion,  had  drawn  his  sword  and 
cut  oil'  the  ear.  well-nigh  cleaving  the  skull  of  Malchus,  a  sen  aul 
of  the   Iliu'h    Priest,  Christ   relinked  the  ad,  and   to  make  more 
clear  the  distinction  between    spiritual  and  temporal  power,  by  a 
touch  of  his  linger  he  healed  the  wound   which   the  sword   had 
made  upon  the  -pot. 

I  repeat— this  language  contains  a  distinction  which  touches 

evervthing  that   18  vital   in   the  (  'hrist  ian    religion,  and   tllia  a-    re 
lated    to   all    that    is  good    and    hopeful  in  tin'    progress   of  human 


170 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


society.  It  is  a  distinction  which  explains  in  an  eye-twinkline,  bv 
an  electric  instinct,  the  interest  which  we  feel  in  every  move- 
ment in  any  part  of  the  world  which  indicates  the  abolition  of  all 
temporal  power  in  the  administration  of  the  spiritual  kingdom 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

This,  just  this,  has  been  the  woe  of  the  world,  that  those  who 
claim   to  be   the  representatives   of  the   Christian  Church  have 
employed  the  very  powers  which  the  Founder  of  our  religion  ab- 
jured.    They  have  seized   and  wielded   the  sword.     They  have 
fought  with  the  same  weapons  of  steel   and  lead  which  secular 
governments   are  wont   to   use.      They   have    sought  to  erect  a 
kingdom  of  this  world.     They  have  maintained  it  by  force  ;  by 
taxations,  by  fines,  by  imprisonments,  by  tribunals,  by  pressure, 
and  compulsion  of  every  kind.     They  have  established  a  kingdom, 
which,  like  other  kingdoms  of  this  world,  has 'been  represented  by 
armies,  and  castles,  and  courts,  and  crowns,  and  all  the  enginery 
of  political  and  military  power  ;    and  beneath   this  mighty  des- 
potism— an    iron,  which  entereth  into  the  soul — the  world  has 
sighed   and   groaned,  and  truth  has  fallen  in  the  streets,  and  lib- 
erty  has   swooned,  and  the  prospects  of  the  human  race  have 
been  obscured  in  a  night  of  ages.     When  anything  occurs  to  re- 
lax tins  terrible  and  unchristian  usurpation  we  cannot  but  rejoice. 
When  the  sword  is  -broken  and  truth  has  freedom,  then  are  we  edad 
because  of  a  return  to  the  first  principles  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
In  these  days  of  quick  intercommunication  and  international  in- 
tercourse nothing  is  done  in  a  corner.     What  occurs  in  one  nation 
concerns  every  other  nation.     In  the  great  drama  of  history  the 
fourth  and  fifth  acts,  pressing  to  the  catastrophe,  are  related  to  the 
first,  second,  and  third ;  and  if  we  in   this  land  are  in  possession 
of  rights  and  liberties  in   advance  of  other  parts  of  the  world, 
let  us   not  forget  the   dramatic  unity   of  historic   facts,  widely 
separated  in  time   and    space,    or    that   the   roots    of  our    own 
nationality  run  beneath  the  sea  to  memorable  events  in  the  old 
world,  of  which  our  civil  and  religious  liberty  are  the  result,  the 
fruitage,  and  the  consummation. 

The  issue  is  now  squarely  joined  before  the  world,  and  it  lies 
between  spiritual  and  temporal  power;  between  truth  and  force; 
between  the  liberty  of  Christ  and  the  usurpations  of  man.  It 
has  been  asserted  by  men  high  in  ecclesiastical  office  in  this 
country,  and  this  in   public  protests,  in   unequivocal  terms,  that 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    ADAMS. 


171 


the  head  of  the  Roman  Church  cannot  discharge  his  spiritual 
functions  if  divested  of  his  temporal  power.  How  is  this?  Let 
us  ponder  its  meaning  well.  It  becomes  every  citizen  of  this 
eountryto  understand  thoroughly  an  assertion  like  this,  claiming  to 
represent  the  sentiment  of  Christian  America.  Cannot  bishops 
of  the  Church  in  these  United  States  exercise  all  their  spiritual 
prerogatives  without  being  invested  with  temporal  power?  May 
not  that  be  dene  in  [taly  which  is  done  in  these  United  States  '. 
Whv  may  not  lie  who  claims  to  lie  the  vicar  and  representative 
of  Jesus  Christ  rely  upon  truth,  simple  truth,  without  a  particle 
of  that  temporal  coercion  which  our  Lord  disavowed  and  disclaimed 
for  himself?  What  more  can  any  man,  under  the  canopy  of 
heaven,  desire,  than  freedom  to  express,  defend,  and  propagate  his 
own  opinions?  If  this  freedom  is  secured  by  constitutional  law, 
what  beyond  remains  to  be  wished  for  in  the  cause  of  truth? 
This  is  a  liberty,  thanks  be  to  God.  which  we  enjoy  in  this  land. 
We  do  not  ask  for  anything  more.  We  do  not  mean  that  there 
shall  be  anything  less.  We  advocate  this  liberty  for  all  alike. 
Our  motives  shall  not  be  misrepresented.  We  stand  by  the  right 
of  every  citizen,  be  he  Papal  or  Protestant,  Jew  or  Gentile,  to 
freedom  of  conscience,  responsible  only  to  his  Maker,  the  Lord 
of  truth  and  the  Lord  of  the  conscience.  We  ask  no  aid  from 
the  powers  of  this  world.  Not  only  do  we  not  ask  such  in- 
tervention, hut  we  are  exceedingly  jealous  of  it  in  all  cases.  In 
the  administration  of  religion  we  solicit  no  assistance,  direel  or 
indirect,  from  the  Common  Council  of  the  city,  the  Legislature 
of  the  State,  or  the  Congress  of  the  nation.  In  the  interest  of 
religion  we  say,  to  all  proposals  from  the  kingdoms  of  this  world, 
as  the  merchants  of  Lyons  to  Louis  XIV.,  when  he  asked  them 
what  he  could  do  for  their  trade — let  us  alone.  The  thing  we 
are  required  in  the  New  Testamenl  to  pray  for  i>  that  the  truth  may 
have  /'/■"  course  and  be  glorified.*  This  in  distinction  from  its  being 
hound— lettered  and  impelled  by  the  force  and  acts  of  "unreason 

able  and  wicked  men."    What,  in  the  name  of  God,  does  truth  de 
maud  hut  a  fair  opportunity  to  utter  her  voice,  and  urge  her  per 

suasion?     Faith   is  not  to  he    < founded   with  weak   credulity, 

and  so  never  can  be    produced    l.y    compulsion.      Our  Lord    never 

demanded  assenl   to  his  claims withoul  evidence;  that  evidence 

*  2d  ThesH.  iii.   I.  3. 


172 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


he  always  presented.     Faith  is  not  opposed  to  reason,  but  is  the 
perfection  of  reason  ;  and  we  who  take  the  Word  of  God  as  of 
supreme   authority  in  the  sphere  of  religion,  have  our  faith  in 
that  Word  based  on  rational  evidence.     If  those  who  prefer  the 
claims  of  the  Papal  church,  in  this  or  other  lands,  will  substan- 
tiate those  claims  at  the  bar  of  enlightened  reason,  by  the  very 
means  which  Christ  himself  ordained,  disavowing  every  other, — by 
truth,  nothing  but  truth. — by  evidence,  by  argument,  by  demonstra- 
tion,—  by  truth,  free  as  the  air  and  light  of  heaven, — truth  pro- 
claimed from  the  pulpit,  a  free  pulpit  in   a  free   church,  in  free 
schools,  and  a  free  press, — if,  relying  upon  these  means  only,  discard- 
ing every  other,  they  can  acquire  ascendency,  here  and  elsewhere, 
let  it  be  done,  and  we  will  all    agree  to  abide  the    issue.     Any 
form  of  ecclesiasticism  which  desires  and  exercises  more  of  any 
kind  of  power  than    is  implied    in   this  absolute  freedom  of  the 
individual  soul  before  God,  is  despotism.     And  when  despotism  is 
dethroned,  let  all  the  people  say  Amen. 


ADDRESS  OF  WILLIAM   CULLEN  BRYANT. 

We  are  assembled,  my  friends,  to  celebrate  a  new  and  signal 
triumph  of  liberty  and  constitutional  government;  not  a  victory 
obtained  by  one  religious  denomination  over  another,  but  the 
successful  assertion  of  rights  which  are  the  natural  inheritance 
of  every  man  born  into  the  world, — rights  of  which  no  man  can 
divest  himself,  and  which  no  possible  form  of  government  should 
be  allowed  to  deny  its  subjects.  A  great  nation,  the  Italian  nation, 
while  yet  acknowledging  allegiance  to  the  Latin  Church,  has  been 
moved  to  strike  the  fetters  of  civil  and  religious  thraldom  from 
the  inhabitants  of  the  most  interesting  city  of  the  world,  in  the 
midst  of  their  exulting  acclamations.  We  are  assembled  to  re- 
echo  those  acclamations.     [Applause.] 

The  government  which  has  just  been  overthrown  in  Rome, 
denied  to  those  who  had  the  misfortune  to  be  its  subjects  every 
one  of  the  liberties  which  are  the  pride  and  glory  of  our  own 
country — liberty  of  the  press,  liberty  of  speech,  liberty  of  worship, 
liberty  of  assembling.  It  was  an  iron  despotism  which,  to  the 
scandal  of  the  Christian  Church,  insisted  on  persecution  as  a 
duty,  set  the  example  of  persecution  to  other  Catholic  countries, 
and,  wherever  it  could  make  itself  obeyed,  maintained  the  obliga- 
tion of  repressing  heresy  by  the  law  offeree. 


ADDRESS    OF    WILLIAM   C.    BRYANT.  173 

Take  a  single  example  of  the  manner  in  which  the  govern- 
ment \va>  administered.  An  American  lady, an  acquaintance  of 
mine,  a  resident  in  Rome  for  several  years,  was  snmmoned  one 
morning  to  appear  before  the  police  of  that  city.  She  went,  ac- 
companied by  the  American  Consul. 

"You  are  charged,"  said  the  police  magistrate,  ,-  with  having 
sent  inoneyto  Florence,  to  be  employed  in  founding  a  Protestant 
orphan  asylum.      What  do  you  say  '." 

••I  did  send  money  for  that  purpose,"  was  the  lady's  answer. 
"  I  did  not  ask  for  it;  it  was  brought  to  me  by  some  ladies,  who 
requested  me  to  forward  it  to  Florence,  and  I  did  so  :  and  I  take 
the  liberty  to  say  that  it  is  no  affair  of  yours."  [Great  ap- 
plause. 

''Of  that  yon  are  not  to  judge,"  replied  the  magistrate. 
''See  von  never  repeat  the  offence." 

Such  was  the  government  which,  to  the  ureal  joy  of  the  Roman 
people,  and  the  satisfaction  of  the  friends  of  liberty  everywhere, 
has  been  overthrown.  Was  it  worthy —  I  put  this  question  to 
this  assembly— was  such  a  government,  intermeddling,  inquisi- 
torial, rudely  and  imperiously  thrusting  itself  between  man  and 
his  Maker,  worthy  to  subsist  even  for  an  hour?  [Cries  of  N"! 
No  !  No  !]  My  friends,  the  answer  you  have  given  to  my  ques- 
tion is  but  the  echo  of  that  which  arises  from  the  hearts  and  voices 
of  millions,  from  a  hundred  realms  of  Christendom,  from  a 
thousand  cities,  from  innumerable  villages  and  neighborhoods, 
from  every  .-pot  where  there  is  a  heart  that  beats  with  reverence 
for  the  rights  of  humanity,  with  the  love  of  liberty,  and  with 
hatred  for  oppression. 

And  yet  there  are  those  who  protesl  against  this  change 
American  citizens,  and  excellenl  people  among  them,  who  lend 
their  names  to  a  public  remonstrance  againsl  admitting  the  people 
of  le.me  to  the  liberties  which  we  enjoy.  My  friends,  i-  there  a 
single  one  of  these  liberties  which  is  nol  as  dear  to  you  as  the  light 
of  day  and  the  free  air  of  heaven  ?  The  liberty  of  public  worship, 
would  you  -ive  it  up  without  a  mortal  struggle?  The  liberty  of 
discussing  openly,  in  conversation  or  1>\  means  of  the  press,  in 
books  or  in  newspapers,  everv  question  which  interests  the  welfare 

of  ourrace  -a  liberty  of  which  the  | ■  Romans  were  nol  allowed 

even  the  shadow  ;  this  and  the  liberty  of  assembling  as  we  now 
assemble  in  vast  throngs,  thousands  upon  thousands,  to  give  an 


174 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


expression  of  public  opinion  the  significance  of  which  cannot  be 
mistaken — are  not  these  as  dear  to  you  as  the  crimson  current 
that  warms  your  hearts,  and  are  they  not  worthy  to  be  defended 
at  the  risk  of  your  lives?  How  is  it,  then,  that  any  citizen  of  our 
own  country  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  blessings,  and  prizing  them 
as  he  must,  can  protest  against  their  being  conferred  upon  the 
Roman  people — a  people  nobly  endowed  by  nature,  and  worthy 
of  a  better  lot  than  the  slavery  they  have  endured  for  so  many 
generations? 

What  sort  of  Protestantism  is  this?  Protestantism  in  its 
worst  form  of  misapplication.  I  should  as  soon  think  of  protest- 
ing against  the  glorious  light  of  the  sun,  of  protesting  against 
admitting  the  sweet  air  of  the  outer  world  into  a  dungeon  full  of 
noisome  damps  and  stifling  exhalations.  I  should  as  soon  think 
of  remonstrating  with  Providence  against  the  return  of  spring, 
with  its  verdure  and  flowers  and  promise  of  harvests,  after  a  long 
and  dreary  winter.  [Applause.]  Is  it  possible  that  those  of  our 
countrymen  who  lend  their  names  to  condemn  this  act  of  justice 
to  the  Roman  people,  are  aware  of  what  they  do? 

My  friends,  I  respect  profound  religious  convictions  wherever 
I  meet  them.  I  honor  a  good  life  wherever  I  see  it,  and  I  find 
men  of  saintly  lives  in  every  religious  denomination.  But  when 
I  hear  it  affirmed  that  there  is  a  natural  alliance  between  despot- 
ism and  Christianity,  that  the  necessary  prop  and  support  of 
religion  is  the  law  of  force,  and  that  the  Christian  church  should 
be  so  organized  that  its  head  shall  be  an  absolute  temporal  mon- 
arch surrounded  by  a  population  compelled  to  be  his  slaves,  I 
must  say  to  those  who  make  this  assertion,  whatever  be  their 
personal  worth,  that  their  doctrine  dishonors  Christianity,  that  it 
brings  scandal  upon  religion,  and  blasphemes  the  holy  and  gra- 
cious memory  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.     [Applause.] 

It  is  now  nearly  two  centuries  and  a  half  since  Roger  Wil- 
liams established  in  Rhode  Island  a  commonwealth  on  the  basis 
of  strict  religious  equality.  That  was  a  little  light  shining  upon 
the  world  from  a  distance,  and  slow  has  been  the  progress  of 
the  nations  in  taking  that  commonwealth  for  an  example.  Yet, 
though  slow,  the  progress  of  religious  liberty  has  been  constant; 
the  day  of  its  triumph  has  arrived;  to-night  we  celebrate  its 
crowning  conquest.  It  was  but  a  little  while  since  that  Austria 
thrust  out  the  priesthood  from  that  partnership  in  the  political 


DESPATCH    TO    THE    KING    OF    ITALY.  175 

power  which  it  had  held  for  centuries.  It  is  not  many  years  since 
that  at  Malaga,  in  Spain,  when  a  heretic  died,  his  corpse  was  con- 
veyed to  the  sea-beach,  amid  the  hooting  of  the  populace  :  and 
that  the  soil  of  Spain  might  not  be  polluted  by  his  remains,  it  was 

buried  in  the  sand  at  low-watermark,  where  the  waves  sometimes 
uncovered  it  and  swept  it  out  to  sea  to  become  the  prey  of  sharks. 

Now  the  heretic  may  erect  a  temple  and  worship  in  any  part  of 
Spain.  Not  long  since  there  was  no  part  of  Italy  in  which  any 
worship  save  that  of  the  Latin  church  was  permitted.  Now.  we 
owe  to  an  eminent  Italian  state-man  the  glorious  maxim,  UA  tree 
( Jhurch  in  a  tree  State,'1  and  we  behold  the  religious  conscience  set 
tree  from  its  fetters  even  in  the  Eternal  City.  With  the  aid  of 
popular  education  it  will  remain  so  forever.      [Applause.] 

When  I  think  of  these  changes,  I  am  reminded  of  that  grand 
allegory  in  one  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  in  which  we  read  of  a 
stone  cut  out  of  the  quarry  without  hands  smiting  a  gigantic 
image  with  a  head  of  gold  and  legs  of  iron,  and  breaking  it  to 
pieces,  which  became  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floors, 
to  be  carried  away  by  the  wind,  while  the  stone  that  smote  the 
image  became  a  great  mountain  and  idled  the  whole  earth.  Thus 
has  the  principle  of  religious  liberty,  a  stone  cut  out  of  the  quarry 
without  hands, — an  inspiration  of  the  Most  High, — -smitten  the 
grim  tyranny  that  held  the  religions  conscience  in  subjection  to 
the  law  of  force  and  broken  it,  into  fragments,  while  it  is  rapidly 
expanding  itself  to  till  the  civilized  world.  Let  us  hope  that  the 
rubbish  left  by  the  demolition  of  this  foul  idol,  made  -mall  as  the 
chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floors  and  dispersed  by  the  breath 
of  public  opinion,  may  never  be  gathered  up  again  and  reconsti- 
tuted, even  in  the  mildest  form  it  ever  wore,  while  the  globe  on 
which  we  tread  shall  endure.     [Greal  applause.] 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Bryant's  address,  the  chairman  rose  and  said  : 
Before  we  separate,  I  deem  it  right  to  state  to  you  thai  I  have  sent 
the  following  despatch  to  the  King  of  Italy  at  Florence: 

"More  than  ten  thousand  American  citizens  are  celebrating 
tonight  the  union  of  Rome  with  Italy,  and  send  congratula- 
tions." 

The  exercises  were  concluded  with  great  enthusiasm  l>\    the  perfor 

mance  of  the   Italian   National    Hymn. 


COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS  ON  THE  MEETING. 

On  the  day  following  the  celebration,  the  journals  of  the  city  were 
filled  with  reports  and  editorials  in  reference  to  the  occasion,  from  which 
we  make  the  following  selections  : — 

[The  New  York  Times.] 

The  Academy  of  Music,  which  has  been  dedicated  to  the  muses,  and 
especially  honored  by  Italian  harmony,  was  filled  literally  to  over- 
flowing last  evening,  by  an  audience  anxious  to  express  their  sympathy 
with  the  successful  movement  for  Italian  Unity.  The  immense  audito- 
rium was  packed  with  an  assemblage  which,  for  respectability  and 
standing  in  the  community,  would  compare  most  favorably  with  any 
ever  congregated  within  its  walls  for  any  purpose,  and  the  imanimity  of 
feeling  was  evinced  in  the  spontaneous  bursts  of  applause  which  greet- 
ed the  sentiments  of  the  speakers.  The  opening  address  of  Gen.  Dix 
was  most  enthusiastically  cheered,  .especially  those  portions  which  re- 
ferred to  the  success  of  the  union  of  the  Italian  States  and  the  object 
for  which  the  movement  was  inaugurated. 

The  greeting  last  evening  given  by  New  York  to  United  Italy  was 
eminently  worthy  of  the  American  people,  and  of  the  cause  whose 
triumph  the  great  gathering  was  intended  to  celebrate.  In  no  meddle- 
some spirit,  with  not  a  particle  of  fanaticism  or  intolerance,  the  intelli- 
gence, the  enterprise,  and  the  character  of  our  city  assembled  to  share 
with  Italians  the  exultation  they  feel  in  the  reunion  of  their  country, 
and  in  the  emancipation  of  Rome  from  the  corrupt  and  despotic  rule  of 
ecclesiastics.  The  movement  was  not  begun  without  many  misgivings. 
Powerful  agencies  had  been  at  work  to  produce  an  impression  that  in  a 
contest  between  Papal  absolutism  and  constitutional  liberty,  the  sym- 
pathies of  this  country  were  on  the  side  of  the  former.  We  shall  be 
pardoned  for  recalling  the  protest  of  the  Times  against  this  perversion 
of  the  national  feeling,  and  the  odds  which  seemed  to  be  against  us  in 
the  demand  for  its  genuine  assertion  on  the  side  of  free  Italy.  The  re- 
sult has  more  than  justified  our  anticipations  from  an  earnest  appeal  to 
the  public  on  the  right  side.  The  best  men  in  the  country  have  hasten- 
ed to  put  on  record  their  sympathy  with  a  struggle  involving  the  essen- 
tials of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Among  our  citizens  apathy  gave 
place  to  an  appreciative  interest  in  the  nature  and  consequences  of  the 


COMMENTS    OF   THE    PRESS.  177 

change  which  makes  Rome  the  capital  of  a  free  nation,  and  this  again 
was  followed  by  an  enthusiasm  which  lias  rarely  been  surpassed.  The 
Academy  of  Music,  capacious  as  it  is,  was  unable  to  receive  half  the 
number  of  those  who  sought  admittance,  and  an  impromptu  outside 
meeting  added  to  the  impressiveness  of  the  demonstration.  The  speak- 
ers were  in  full  unison  with  the  people,  and  the  resolutions  present  the 
points  at  issue  in  an  aspect  which  will  commend  itself  to  the  country. 


[The  Sew  York  Tribune.] 
United  Italy  !    long  divided,  but  at  last  united  !      She  never   was 
more  worthily  remembered  than  in  New  York  last  evening,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  American  celebration  of  Italian  Unity.     And  it  was  fitting 
that  the  universal  voice  of  American  citizens,  who  arc  imbued  with  the 
vital  spirit  of  their  own  institutions,  should  be  raised  in   commemora- 
tion of  one  of  the  most  striking  events  in  this  wonderful  age — an  event 
than  which  none  is  more  important  in  its  relation  to  the  progress  of 
liberal  ideas — an  event  which  illustrates  the  lesson  long  ago  learned  by 
Americans,  that  no  political  organization  is  wise  enough  or  pure  enough 
to   control   the  sacred  interests  of  religion,  and   that   no   ecclesiastical 
organization  of  the  nineteenth  century  can  wisely  manage  the   political 
interests  of  a  great  nation.   Thoroughly  permeated  with  these  sentiments, 
the   best  citizens  of  New  York  were  well   prepared  to   listen  to    then- 
utterance,  and   to  manifest   their   sturdy  advocacy  of  the  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  not  only  throughout  Italy,  but  throughout  the 
world. 

As  early  as  seven  o'clock  the  sidewalks  of  Fourteenth  street,  brilliant 

with   calcium   lights,   were    filled    by  a  continuous   stream  of   people 

hurrying  to  the  Academy  of  Music.    The  Academy  itself  was  surrounded 

by  an  immense  throng,  which  did    not  reach    its   maximum    until    long 

after    eight    o'clock.        Inside,  the    scene    was    one    of    enthusiasm    and 

rejoicing.      Every  seat  was  occupied,  the  aisles  wee   packed,  and    the 

people  jostled  and  pushed  each   other  in  the  ante-room,  so  eager  were 

they  to  gain  admission,  which   finally  had   to  be   denied    them.     The 

character  of  the  audience  was  seled   and  refined;  not  a  single  rowdy 

was  present,  and  the  disaffected  one-,  if  any  such   there  were,  reserved 

the  expression  of  their  disapproval  until  the  separation  of  the  meeting. 

Rarely  does  it  happen    that    an   immense  gathering,  like  thai    of  last 

evening,  manifests  such  entire  unanimity  in  its  sentiments.     Not  a  sin 

gle  hiss  nor  expression  of  <lisai.prol.ati jcui  red  to  mar  the  Berenity 

of  i  be  meet  ing. 

'I  he  enthusiasm,  which  was  seldom  if  at  all  boisterous,  was  neverthe 
deep,  and  denoted  the  mosl  intense  sympathy  with  and  interesl    in 
the  greal  triumph  which  Americans  had  come  to  honor. 


178  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

The  remarks  of  Mr.  Beeclier  were  particularly  appreciated,  and  his 
vigorous  sarcasm  was  thoroughly  relished  by  the  vast  audience.  He 
handled  the  clergy  without  gloves,  asserting  that  an  ecelesiastical  govern- 
ment is  the  worst  in  the  world — [which  was  greeted  with  great  applause] 
— the  most  .oppressive  and  intolerable,  although  clergymen  would  be 
good  enough  citizens  if  you  only  let  them  alone  and  did  not  class  them, 
and  make  them  think  they  were  better  than  other  men.  Dr.  Bel- 
lows and  William  Cullen  Bryant  followed  with  similar  statements,  the 
audience  expressing,  by  their  continued  and  hearty  applause,  the  voice 
of  America — that  every  people  have  a  right  to  determine  their  own 
government  and  their  own  laws.  During  the  evening  the  crowd  around 
the  building  assumed  such  proportions  that  an  impromptu  meeting  was 
held,  and  speeches  were  made  by  Horace  Greeley,  Chancellor  Crosby, 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  Daniel  D.  Lord,  and  others. 

ITALIAN     UNITY. 

The  prophecies  of  the  malignant  and  the  fears  of  the  faint-hearted 
were  both  nobly  disproved  by  the  meeting  at  the  Academy  of  Music 
last  night  in  celebration  of  the  accomplishment  of  Italian  Unity.  An 
audience  large  in  itself,  and  embracing  a  disproportionate  share  of  that 
portion  of  our  population  distinguished  for  wealth,  culture,  and  higli 
repute  ;  the  attendance  and  the  speeches  of  so  many  of  our  leading 
minds  ;  the  hearty  and  imposing  unanimity  which  greeted  every  demon- 
stration of  sympathy  for  the  Italians  in  the  attainment  of  their  full 
national  life,  afforded  sufficient  proof  that  even  in  this  city,  so  long  the 
prey  and  spoil  of  a  party  which  is  bitterly  opposed  to  freedom  every- 
where, it  is  impossible  to  check  or  repress  the  utterances  of  liberal 
aspiration  and  progress.  If  the  respectability  of  our  city  could  assert 
its  rights  as  boldly  and  effectively  as  it  asserts  its  principles,  we  would 
soon  be  free  again.  The  demonstration  last  night  was  worthy  of  our 
city,  and  worthy  of  the  great  and  righteous  cause  whose  triumph  it 
commemorated. 

The  astounding  events  which  left  the  way  to  Rome  open  to  the  Ita- 
lian people  have  so  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  world,  that  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  Papacy  from  the  sovereignties  of  the  earth,  and  the 
consequent  completion  of  the  plan  of  Italian  unity,  have  been  accepted 
as  matters  of  course,  rather  than  as  political  revolutions  of  the  most 
radical  and  hopeful  character.  And  what  may  have  contributed  greatly 
to  that  equanimity  with  which  the  nations  have  looked  on  at  these 
momentous  results,  has  been  the  fixed  impression,  existing  for  years  in 
the  minds  of  all  thinking  men,  that  the  liberation  of  Rome  was  an 
event  which  might  happen  any  day.  The  nature  of  things,  the  logic  of 
history  coincided  with  the  passionate  argument  of  D'Azeglio  and  Maz- 


COMMENTS    OF    TIIK    PRESS.  1  7l» 

zini,  the  clear  demonstration  of  the  great-hearted  Cavour,  to  convince  us 
that  we  .should  probably  sec  with  our  eves  the  advent  of  the  day  of 
liberty  for  Rome.  Yet  it  came  in  a  way  we  had  never  dreamed.  Italy 
seemed  nearer  it  in  the  days  of  1848 — that  year  of  miracles  when  ever} 
thing  seemed  probable — but  was  crushed  into  a  more  shameful  slavery 
in  the  year  that  followed,  the  year  of  disillusions.  Again,  when  Gari- 
baldi, in  that  fiery  Avatar  of  Ids  upon  the  Sicilies,  drove  out  the  Bour- 
bon possession  from  Italy  and  gave  a  new  crown  to  the  Sardinian  King. 
it  was  thought  that  the  next  step  would  be  an  easy  one  to  Rome.  But 
all  those  years  the  sword  of  France  was  brandished  in  the  face  of  Ital\  . 
keeping  her  out  of  that  unity  she  deemed  her  paradise.  When  at  last 
the  troops  of  the  Empire  left  the  Papal  territory,  the  young  men  of 
Italy  gathered  under  the  lead  of  their  ancient  chief,  and  Rome  would 
have  fallen  then,  but  for  the  treacherous  return  of  De  Failly  and  his 
-  wonder-working  Chassepots."  After  the  fatal  day  of  Mentana  there 
was  less  hope  than  for  many  years  before  for  the  rescue  of  Rome.  The 
power  and  the  malice  of  Napoleon  had  painfully  impressed  even  the 
patriots  of  Italy,  who  had  come  to  regard  him  as  a  malignant  destiny 
not  to  be  questioned  or  resisted  further. 

But  in  the  midst  of  this  profound  discouragement,  while  the  Council 
was  in  session  which  had  voted  the  Pope  the  honors  of  a  living  apothe- 
osis,— while  Garibaldi  seemed  dying,  and  the  plebiscitum  had  made 
Napoleon  infallible  in  France, — those  who  had  crushed  Italy  were  made 
the  instruments  of  Heaven  for  her  liberation.  The  Emperor  hurled 
France  into  a  war  which  abrogated  himself  and  the  September  Conven- 
tion; De  Failly  was  finished  by  his  own  Chassepots,  and  Italy,  with  do 
one  to  hinder,  walked  quietly  into  the  open  gates  of  Rome.  The  Roman 
people  joyfully  declared  themselves  Italians,  and  the  temporal  power 
fell  so  quietly  and  calmly,  the  Pope  was  treated  with  such  respectful 
reverence  and  kindness,  that  unless  His  Holiness  read  the  newspapers, 
he  could  scarcely  have  told  he  had  lost  his  empire  and  gained  his  inde- 
pendence. 

In  our   rejoicings    over   this    long-desired    event,  there    is    no   one    to 
exult  over,  no  one  to  commiserate.     The  Roman  Church  and  the  I  tali 
an  State  are  alike  gainers  by  the  change  thai  frees  a  portion  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  Italy  from  a  divided  allegiance,  and   relieves  the   Pontiff  of  a 
eivil  government  which  seriously  interfered  with  the  spiritual  duties  of 

Ins  charge,  and  required  the  humiliating  aid  of  foreign  baj its  to  bus- 

tain  it.  Our  contagious  example  of  the  separation  of  <  Ihurch  and  state 
has  gradually  infected  the  world.  Prance  has  been  approaching  h  for 
many  years.  Spain  jut  missed  adopting  it,  and  will  find  uo  permanent 
peace  until  she  does.     England,  which    has  stood   for  bo  manj  years  a 

symbol  of  immutability  to  the  nations  of  the  Continent,  is  now-  involved 
12 


180  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

in  a  revolution  which  can  only  end  in  the  incorporation  of  this  great 
principle  of  modern  thought  into  her  constitutional  system. 

We  may  hope  that  Italy,  free  at  last  from  that  cankering  sore  that 
kept  her  a  prey  to  conspiracy  and  diplomacy,  can  now  enter  upon  the 
career  of  development  and  reform  she  so  pressingly  needs,  and  that  the 
Catholic  Church,  relieved  from  the  sordid  cares  of  temporal  govern- 
ment, can  devote  itself  more  effectively  than  ever  to  the  divine  work  of 
ministering  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  millions  that  acknowledge  its 
leadership  and  authority. 

(New  York  Herald.) 

Viva  Italia/ 

The  American  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  unity  of  Italy  was 
held  last  evening  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  audit  may  be  said,  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  a  larger  or  more  enthusiastic  gathering  has 
never  collected  within  those  walls.  A  larger  number  could  not  be  accom- 
modated with  even  breathing-room.  The  meeting  was  announced  to  take 
place  at  eight  o'clock,  and  so  great  was  the  rush  that  at  a  quarter  past 
seven  not  a  seat  or  even  standing-room  was  available,  and  hundreds  of 
people  were  sent  away  in  disappointment.       At  half-past  seven  o'clock 
the  scene  outside  was  most  exciting  and  almost  indescribable.     Gentle- 
men   with    ladies    on    their   arms    came   rushing    up   to  the   principal 
entrance   in  Irving  Place,  where   some   sixteen   hundred  people  were 
standing,  and  presenting  their  tickets  to  the  first  policeman  they  could 
see,  desired  immediate  admission.     But  the  building  was  already  cram- 
med to  its  utmost,  and  consequently  further  admission  was  impossible. 
A  rush  was  next  made  to  the  side  entrances,  but  these  were  closely 
guarded  by  policemen,  to  prevent  any  one  going  in  who  was  not  provi- 
ded with  a  stage  ticket.     After  waiting  until  eight  o'clock  the  crowd, 
among  whom  were  a  number   of  clergymen,  became  extremely  clamor- 
ous and  crowded  up  to  the  side  doors,  threatening  their  guardians  with 
rough  treatment ;  but  to  avoid   this  unpleasantness   the  men  retreated 
within  the  doors,  and  neither  prayers  nor  entreaties  could  prevail  upon 
them  to  admit  any  of   the  crowd,  who  stood  knocking   and  growling 
without.     After  a  short  time  the  entire  outside  crowd  gathered  at  the 
front   entrance,  and  Horace  Greeley  and  Chancellor  Crosby  addressed 
them  on  the  same  subject  that  was   being  discussed  within  doors.     In- 
side the  building  the  meeting  was  of  the  most  enthusiastic  character. 
Every  corner  was  closely  packed  by  the  audience,  who  were  apparently 
determined  to  make  the  utmost  of  the  opportunity  afforded  them  of  ex- 
pressing their  sympathy  for  the  cause  of  Italian  unity. 

THE  ITALIAN  UNITY  MEETING. 

The  meeting  at  the  Academy  of  Music  last  evening  in  favor  of  Italian 


COMMENTS    OF    THE    PRES8  1S1 

unity  was  one  of  the  greatest  outpourings  of  our  citizens  that  New 
York  has  seen  for  many  a  day.  [nside  the  immense  building  was 
packed  so  clos.lv  that  im  more  could  find  even  standing-room,  and  the 
overflow  of  these  formed  the  nucleus  of  another  immense  assemblage 
outside.  General  Dix,  Hey.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Elev.  Eenry  W. 
Bellows,  William  Cull, 'ii  Bryant,  and  others  of  equally  high  standing 
addressed  the  meeting  inside,  and  Horace  Greeley,  Elev.  Howard 
Crosby,  and  Rev.  William  Aikman  spoke  to  the  assembled  multitudes 
outside. 

The  speeches  and  resolutions  of  this  meeting  are  but  the  expression 
on  Italian  unity  of  the  overwhelming,  if  not  the  ail-embracing  popular 
sentiment  of  the  United  States.  We  do  not  forget  that  in  all  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  Union  there  have  been  meetings  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  and  congregations  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  support  of  the 
rights  and  claims  of  the  Pope  to  his  temporalities,  and  in  earnest  de- 
nunciation of  the  seizure  and  appropriation  thereof  by  the  Italian 
government, as  a  sacrilegious  robbery  and  usurpation;  but  these  Catho- 
lic meetings  have  been  rather  manifestations  of  pious  devotion  to  th< 
Holy  Father  than  expressions  of  judgment  on  the  political  question  in- 
volved. We  are  called  upon  to  consider  the  political  and  the  religious 
question,  the  rights  of  the  State  and  the  rights  of  the  Church,  the 
liberties  of  the  people  and  the  liberty  of  the  Pope,  and  we  think  thej 
all  may  be  and  will  be  happily  reconciled  with  the  political  unity  of 
Italy. 

Through  all  the  centuries  since  the  dissolution  of  the  Roman  empire 
Italy  has  been  the  prey  of  the  incessant  and   inevitable  rivalries,  jeal 
ousies  and  discords  of  the  petty  kingdoms,  principalities  and  independ 
ent  cities  into  which   thai   beautiful  countrj  has  been  divided ;  and  the 
victim  too,  from  these  divisions  and  discords,  of  the  powerful  nations 
on  every  side.     And  in  the  long  catalogue  of  internal  war.  and  foreign 
invasions  which   have  thus   desolated    Italy   for  a  thousand  years  the 
Pope  and  his  temporalities  have  played  a  very  conspicuous  part,  ami 
from  time  to  time,  too — vanquished  on   the  field  of  arms,  driven   into 
exile,  or  held  as  a  prisoner     the    Tope   has  had  his  share  of  the  di 
fcrous  consequences.     Through  all  this  long  period,  from  the  mist)  twi 
bghl  of  the  Dart  A.ge    to  the  noondaj  blaze  of  modern  civilization,  the 
petty  political  divisions  and  sub-divisions  of  [talj    have  been  onl}  d< 
moralizing  and  ruinous  to  the  Italian  people     politically,  morally,  and 
religiously.     So  it  has  been  with  the  pettj  divisions  of  the  greal   Gei 
man  family;  so  it  was  with  the  pettj   divisions  of  ancienl   Greece,  and 
of  the  .till  more  ancient  kingdom  of  Saul,  I  >avid,  and  Solomon.     So  H 
with  the  ancient  petty  divisions  of  [reland  and  of  Sootland,  and  bo 
with  the  Saxon  heptarchy   of   England,  thi    inc<     anl    vmra  of  which 


182  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

among  her  seven  kings  are  aptly  described  by  John  Milton  as  utterly 
useless  to  the  historian,  being  as  senseless  and  unmeaning  as  the  battles 
of  so  many  kites  and  crows  in  the  air. 

The  unity  of  Italy  is  her  resurrection  from  the  dead.  Though  the 
idea  has  been  his  ruin,  it  was  a  happy  thought  of  Louis  Napoleon — that 
Napoleonic  idea  of  "  the  unity  of  nationalities."  He  saw  that  in  assist- 
ing the  great  Cavour  to  carry  out  this  sublime  idea  in  Italy,  he  would 
create  and  secure  a  powerful  ally  ;  but  he  failed  to  see  that  Bismarck 
and  Germany  woiild  profit  by  the  example  so  far  as  to  dethrone  him 
and  devastate  fair  France  by  fire  and  sword.  He  expected  to  keep 
Germany  divided  as  she  was  kept  divided  by  Napoleon  the  First ;  but 
the  idea  of  "  national  unity,1'  from  our  example  in  our  late  civil  war, 
had  outgrown  his  calculations  in  Italy  and  in  Germany  when  he  entered 
upon  this  conflict  with  Prussia.  With  his  declaration  of  the  war  he 
found  that  the  South  German  States  were  a  unit  with  the  Northern 
Confederation ;  and  in  the  withdrawal  of  his  troops  from  Rome  he 
found  that  Italy  was  marching  to  occupy  the  city,  and  that  King  Victor 
Emmanuel  was  utterly  powerless  to  resist  or  delay  the  execution  of  the 
will  of  the  Italian  people. 

We  believe,  too,  that  from  this  consummation  of  Italian  unity — call 
it  usurpation,  spoliation,  robbery,  or  what  you  will— the  most  benefi- 
cent results  will  follow  to  Italy,  to  Rome,  and  to  the  Pope  and  the 
Church.  We  believe  that  the  Italian  people,  after  all  their  oppressions 
of  a  thousand  years  and  more,  still  possess  the  best  attributes  of  the 
old  Romans,  and  are  capable  of  making  Rome,  under  their  new  dispen- 
sation, greater  in  all  things  great  than  was  the  Rome  of  the  Caesars,  and 
Italy,  in  all  its  reviving  beauties,  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the 
earth.  We  expect  that  the  living  generation  of  men  will  from  all 
lands  be  witnesses  to  much  of  the  development  of  this  glorious  resur- 
rection of  Italy  and  Rome.  From  the  dust  in  which  they  have  been 
sitting  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  through  all  these  long  centuries  of  de- 
basement, they  will  rise  and  shine  in  the  glory  of  their  unity  and 
strength.  Indeed,  the  moral  and  material  progress  of  the  Italian  people, 
since  the  practical  beginning  of  this  great  work  of  unity  in  18;~>9  (to 
say  nothing  of  1848),  is  exceedingly  encouraging  as  to  the  future  of 
Italy  and  Rome  under  this  union  of  the  Italian  States  and  people. 

Nor  are  our  hopes  less  sanguine  in  regard  to  the  resulting  benefits  to 
the  Pope  and  the  Church  from  this  separation  of  Church  and  State.  In 
no  land  upon  the  face  of  the  globe  is  the  Catholic  Church  so  prosperous 
as  in  these  United  States',  with  their  free  speech,  free  press,  and  abso- 
lute freedom  in  religion.  We  expect  that  under  the  same  beneficent 
influences- — the  liberation  of  the  Pope  from  the  manacles  of  his  tempo- 
ralities, from   the  cares  of  State  and  the  dangers  of  the  sword- — will 


COMMENTS    OF    THE    PRESS.  1  s^ 

mark  a  new  epoch  in  the  happiness  of  his  administration  of  the  di\ine 
offices  of  St.  Peter,  and  in  the  prosperity  of  his  Church  in  Rome,  Italy, 
and  all  over  Europe  and  all  over  the  world. 


[Tl  -t,] 

By  far  the  largest  gathering  of  people,  and  that  of  most  moral  weight, 
ever  assembled  in  the  United  States,  upon  any  occasion  of  the  kind, 
was  that  at  the  Academy  of  Music  last  evening.  Although  no  political 
question  was  at  stake,  and  only  the  enlightened  zeal  of  a  free  people  for 
the  progress  of  liberal  principles,  and  for  the  spread  throughout  tin- 
world  of  the  blessings  which  self-government  has  secured  to  them, 
attracted  our  citizens  thither,  yet  long  before  the  hour  fixed  for  open 
ing  the  meeting  every  seat  in  the  house  was  full,  and  every  avenue  of 
access  to  it  thronged  by  multitudes  unable  to  find  admission.  Several 
gentlemen  from  this  journal,  who  were  near  the  doors  soon  after  seven 
o'clock,  found  it  quite  impossible  to  enter,  while  some  of  the  speakers 
only  succeeded  in  doing  so  after  a  long  struggle,  and  by  the  assistance  of 
the  police.  But  there  was  no  disturbance,  no  want  of  harmony,  no 
feeling  but  cordial  fellowship  and  enthusiastic  sympathy  with  the  great 
cause  that  brought  the  meeting  together.  The  assembly  was,  in  short,  a 
fair  representation  of  the  public  opinion  of  America. 

THE    MEETING    LAST    EVENING. 

.Many  of  our  readers  will  find  nothing  in  current  literature  more  in- 
teresting to  them  than  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  at  the  A-Cademj 
of  Music  last  evening,  to  a  full  report  of  which  we  give  much  of  our 
space  to-day.  The  record  of  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  people  of 
New  York  send  their  congratulations  to  Italy,  united  under  her  consti- 
tutional government,  and  to  Rome,  freed  from  crushing  oppression  and 
from  a  humiliating  isolation,  and   made  again  the  capital  of  a  great  and 

free  nation,  is  cl ring  to  all  lovers  of  liberty;  and  the  speeches  made 

at  the  meeting  express  with  grace  ami  vigor  the  besl  thoughts  of  some 
of  our  ablest  men  on  a  subject  which  enlists  and  stimulates  all  their 
powers. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  official  acts  of  the 
meeting,  or  even  in  the  Language  of  the  speakers,  though  some  of  this 
was  very  plain  and  strong,  which  could  justly  offend  the  religious  feel 
Logs  of  any  one.  The  American  people  are  devoted  to  the  firsl  princi 
pies  upon  which  their  institutions  are  founded  the  principles  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  They  will  aol  refuse  this  liberty,  in  any  of  its 
a  peel  .  to  any  man;   hut   all   men,  believers  in  whatever  creeds  and 


184  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

worshippers  by  whatever  form,  may  here  hold  and  proclaim  their  belief 
and  practise  their  worship,  unchecked  and  undisturbed.  But  we  claim 
for  ourselves  and  for  all  men  what  we  would  here  secure  to  all ;  and 
when  any  man,  or  creed,  or  church,  or  government,  or  nation  becomes 
the  enemy  of  free  thought,  free  speech,  or  free  religion,  public  opinion 
in  the  United  States  will  maintain  its  principles  against  them. 

It  was  the  opposition  with  which  this  meeting  was  threatened,  the 
coldness  and  disfavor  with  which  the  project  of  it  was  met  by 
many  public  men,  that,  more  than  anything  else,  awakened  the  popular 
enthusiasm  which  has  made  it  the  most  effective  expression  of  public 
sentiment  ever  heard  upon  a  kindred  subject.  This  enthusiasm  has 
rarely  been  equalled,  indeed,  even  on  far  more  .exciting  occasions.  We 
know  of  instances  in  which  gentlemen  of  character  came  hundreds  of 
miles  solely  to  attend  the  meeting,  and  every  city  within  many  hours 
of  New  York  was  largely  represented,  often  by  its  most  influential  citi- 
zens. It  was  the  common  remark  of  observer's,  that  they  had  never  seen 
so  great  a  meeting  which  was  made  up  so  largely  of  men  well  and  widely 
known  for  their  intellect  and  their  virtues. 


[The  Evening  Mail.] 
A  TREMENDOUS  DEMONSTRATION. 

The  great  meeting  which  was  held  last  night  at  the  Academy  of 
Music,  to  give  expression  to  American  sympathy  with  united  Italy,  is 
described  at  length  elsewhere.  We  believe  that  few  of  our  readers 
will  complain  that  we  have  given  so  much  space  to  the  record  of  a 
meeting  of  such  importance.  It  is  not  once  in  ten  years  that  so  much 
strong  and  eloquent  talk  is  heard  from  one  platform  in  the  same 
evening  as  was  lasb  night,  eagerly  listened  to  by  the  most  intelligent 
audience  that  can  be  summoned  together  in  this  country.  We  are 
obliged  to  confine  ourselves  to  full  extracts  from  these  speeches,  which 
deserve  to  be  called  great,  because  they  were  made  by  men  of  great 
ability,  on  a  theme  to  which  they  had  given  earnest  thought,  and  in 
behalf  of  a  cause  which  stirred  up  the  depths  of  their  natures  and  in- 
spired them  to  unwonted  fervor. 

We  are  proud,  as  Americans,  that  such  a  body  of  noble  utterances 
in  behalf  of  Italian  Unit)'  and  freedom  is  to  go  to  the  world  through 
the  press  as  an  expression  of  the  best,  freest,  and  most  enlightened 
American  sentiment.  They  will  arouse,  enkindle,  and  give  expression 
to  the  earnest  sentiment  that  pervades  the  better  classes  of  our  people 
everywhere — who  will  rejoice  to  see  their  convictions  placed  before 
the  world  with  such  force  of  logic,  with  such  historical  arguments  and 


COMMENTS    OF   THE    PRESS.  1  85 

such  noble  bursts  of  genuine  eloquence  as  were  heard  Las!  night,  and 
will  be   read   U  tens  of  millions  on   both   sides  of  the  water.     The 
Atlantic  cable  will  Bash  across   the  ocean  the  proceedings  of  this  mon- 
ster meeting,  and  will  give  some  hint  of  its    importance,   of  its  rep- 
resentative significance,  of  the  men   who  took   part   in  it,  and  of  the 
spirit   of  their  appeals,      [ntelligenl    foreigners  will  see  at   once  thai 
this  demonstration  was  something  morethana  mere  massmeeting.    Thej 
will   recognize   that   it   merely  gave   eloquent    voice  to  the   unspoken 
sentiment   of  that  part  of  America  whirl.  Is  most  truly  American,  and 
the    friends   of  free    institutions    everywhere   will   take  new  courage 
from    the   strong  and   fresh   in. puis,,  thus   imparted.     No    intelligenl 
European  .-an  be  made  to  believe  thai  when  such  men  as  Mr.  Bryant, 
General   Dix,    Mr.  Greeley,    Mr.  Godwin,  and    Mr.  Beech er    unite    to 
express  American  sentiment,  they  will  or  can  represent  anything  Less 
than  the  convictions  and  feelings  of  the  better  classes  of  our   people 

everywhere. 

Thus  understood,  the  voice  of  this  meeting  will  be  heard  abroad 
with  an  effect  which  we  can  little  appreciate  here.  It  is  this  voice  for 
which  the  Italians  have  been  anxiously  waiting,  since  they  consummated 
their  independence  and  union.  It  was  to  break  the  force  of  this 
anticipated  expression  that  various  meetings  have  been  held  all  over 
the  country  of  an  opposite  character.  The  Italians  will  not  be  dis 
appointed  in  their  hope  of  a  strong  word  of  good  cheer  from  this  side 
of  The  Atlantic.  They  will  see  that  the  foremost  of  our  statesmen, 
literary  mm.  public  officials,  and  other  representative  Americans  are 
heartily  on  their  side.  And  the  governments  outside  of  [talj  will  see 
that  there  rat.  be  no  mistake  as  to  what  is  the  tendency  of  that 
American  sentiment,  whirl,  is  sure  to  prevail  here  whenever  il  is  roused. 
They  will  take  warning  not  to  interfere  with  the  practical  realization 
of  the  motto  under  which  Victor  Emmanuel  has  won  his  present  proud 

position— "  Italy  for  the   Italians." 

Sensible  Roman  Catholics,  especially  those  who  really  believe  in 
American  institutions,  will  no,  fail  to  note  in  (he  speeches  of  lasl 
evening  the  fad  that  all  the  speakers  disclaimed  an  attitude  of  hostility 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  as  such.  They  areas  much  interested 
as  Protestants  are  in  the  maintenance  of  a  strict  separation  between 
Church  and  State.     Their  experience  here  oughl    to  teach  them 

the  freed .1'  their  Church    IV.,.,,  State   affairs   has   been   one   great 

cause  of  its  prosperity,  and  thai  the  Pope  oughl  to  be  congratulated 
,,,  Qia  enforced  liberation  from  a  union  of  two  utterl)  incompatible 
species  of  pow. 


1S6  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

[The  Commercial  Advertiser.] 
THE    CONGRATULATION    TO    ITALY. 

The  voice  of  the  American  people  in  congratulation  of  United  Italy 
rang  out  clear  and  strong  last  night.  Rarely  has  so  grand  an  expres- 
sion of  the  popular  feeling  been  uttered  as  that  which  characterized  the 
proceedings  in  the  Academy  of  Music  ;  for  it  was  the  generous  outburst 
of  an  enthusiastic  interest  and  of  a  cordial  sympathy.  The  best  men 
and  women  in  the  community  united  in  the  recognition  of  an  event 
which,  in  the  words  of  the  "  Address  to  the  people  of  Italy,"  infuses 
into  the  Italian  people  a  fresh  life  of  knowledge,  of  liberty,  and  of  faith. 
The  nationality  of  Italy  secured,  her  resources  must  develop,  her  indus- 
tries be  stimulated,  and  her  strength  as  a  nation  grow.  In  the  course 
of  a  searching  and  eloquent  speech,  Mr.  Parke  Godwin  drew  a  clever 
picture  of  the  causes  which  have  produced  Italian  discord,  likening  the 
experience  of  Italy  to  that  of  the  United  States.  In  the  latter,  the 
bare  assertion  of  two  incompatible  sovereignties  led  to  an  awful  and 
bloody  war ;  in  the  former,  the  actual  existence  of  a  sovereign  State  in 
the  bosom  of  another  sovereign  State  was  found  to  be  abnormal  and 
mischievous  to  the  last  degree,  producing  endless  disorders,  and  finally 
succumbing  to  the  inexorable  logic  of  events.  This  was  the  keynote  of 
the  Italian  struggle.  Mr.  Godwin  was  followed  by  Mr.  Beecher,  Dr.  Bel- 
lows, Judge  Emott,  Mr.  Bryant,  and  Mr.  Greeley,  and  all  the  speeches 
were  apt  and  forcible. 


[Harper's  Weekly.] 
ITALY    AND    AMERICA. 

The  great  meeting  in  New  York  to  congratulate  Italy  upon  her  union 
and  independence  was  one  of  the  most  imposing  and  significant  meet- 
ings ever  held  in  this  city.  It  was  the  first  real  voice  of  America  upon 
the  subject ;  and  what  it  said,  and  said  so  well,  would  undoubtedly  be 
approved  by  seven-eighths  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Hitherto 
Italy  and  Europe  have  heard  from  this  country  only  the  voice  of  the 
members  of  the  .Roman  Church,  which,  as  one  of  its  most  respectable 
clergymen  in  the  country  says,  permits  here  no  difference  of  opinion 
upon  the  subject.  But  now  they  hear  how  Americans  of  all  denomina- 
tions, who  believe  in  political  self-government  and  religious  liberty  at 
home,  rejoice  when  they  see  another  country  founding  its  future  and  its 
happiness  upon  the  same  immortal  principles. 

Such  Americans — and  so  numerous  are  they  that  they  may  be  truly 
called  America — perceive  in  the  events  that  have  recently  occurred  in 
Italy  a  revolution,  peacefully  accomplished,  in  the  interest  of  liberty  and 


COMMENTS    01    THE    PRESS.  187 

intelligent  progress.  They  see  a  degrading  despotism  ended,  and  the 
sanguinary  and  horrible  convulsions  to  which  such  a  despotism  always 
leads  happily  and  wisely  avoided.  They  see  in  the  political  emancipa- 
tion of  Rome  from  ecclesiastical  control   by  the  unanimous  and  hearty 

consent  of  the  Romans  themselves,  win.  are  also  members  of  the  Roman 
Church,  the  dawn  of  that  better  day  which  shall  show  the  world  a  free, 
regenerated,  and  progressive  Italy.  We  trust  that  the  New  York  meet- 
ing will  be  but  the  first  of  a  series  of  similar  meetings  all  over  the 
country,  that  the  hearts  of  the  brave  Italians  who  have  achieved  so 
spotless  and  glorious  a  victory  may  be  cheered  and  strengthened  by  the 
knowledge  that  the  great  heart  of  America  beats  in  sympathy  with 
theirs. 

The  duty  of  American  Roman  Catholics  would  seem  to  be  to  show  to 
this  country  that  their  Church  does  not  ask  nor  need  to  exercise  the 
absolute  political  control  of  any  body.  They  should  be  anxious,  if  thej 
would  conciliate  American  sympathy,  to  show  that  they  gladly  acquiesce 
in  the  rescue  of  their  Church  from  the  political  responsibility  of  the 
notorious  wretchedness  of  Central  Italy.  They  should  say  what  Father 
Hyacinthe  recently  said  in  London  of  the  situation  in  Home.  And 
Father  Hyacinthe,  when  he  was  in  this  country,  declared,  that  if  to  be 
born  a  Roman  Catholic,  to  believe  the  creed,  to  honor  the  traditions, 
and  to  hope  for  the  triumph  of  his  Church  made  him  a  Roman  Catholic, 
there  was  no  better  under  the  sun;  so  that  his  words  are  to  be  regarded 
as  those  of  one  of  the  most  devoted  members  of  his  communion.  "The 
temporal  power  of  the  Pope,"  says  the  good  father,  "  useful  in  its  own 
age  and  for  particular  stages  of  European  society,  has  long  outlived  its 
time.  Thrice  have  J  visited  Rome.  Thrice  have  I  seen  that  power 
close  at  hand.  Thrice  have  I  labored  to  respeel  it.  Bui  I  saw  clearly 
that  it  rested  only  on  the  bayonets  of  France,  and  thai  when  the)  were 
withdrawn  it  would  crumble  to  pieces.  It  has  crumbled;  and  I  thank 
God  for  an  event  thai  will  minister  to  the  Unity  of  [taly,  to  the  regen- 
eration of  the  Latin  races,  and,  above  all,  to  the  reform  of  a  Church 
always  dear  to  me — the  Catholic  (  'hurch  of  Rome." 


[The  <  Ihrifitian  t'ninn.] 
AMERICAN    CITIZENS    AND    ITALIAN    DNITY. 

1 1  was  quite  time  thai  something  should  be  d •  to  ascertain  for  our 

selves,  ami  to  declare  to  the  world,  what    is  the  real   sentimenl   of  the 
American  people  on  the  grand  central  doctrine  of  our  political  creed 

the  right  of  the  governed  to  choose,  alter,  or  abolish  their  gover snl 

and  its  application  to  the  great   Roman  Italian  movemenl  of  the  presenl 


188 


UNITY    OF    ITALY. 


day.  It  lias  been,  for  several  weeks,  the  boast  of  a  certain  party  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  their  political  adherents,  that  the  voice  of 
this  country  is  unmistakably  in  favor  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope. 
Meetings  after  meetings,  ecclesiastical  and  other,  have  assembled  to  pro- 
test against  what  has  been  called  the  "  sacrilegious  outrage  "  perpetrated 
by  the  Italians,  including  the  almost  unanimous  citizens  of  Rome,  in 
taking  possession  of  the  Papal  City  as  the  capital  of  Italy.  The  pulpits 
which,  a  few  years  ago,  fulmined  holy  abhorrence  of  the  desecrating  ele- 
ment of  politics  seeking  to  mingle  in  the  sacred  services  of  the  sanctu- 
ary,— when  that  politics  aimed  but  to  secure  our  own  liberties, — have 
resounded  with  impassioned  appeals  for  our  interference  to  suppress  the 
liberties  of  another  people.  At  one  of  these  meetings  it  was  declared 
that  "the  independence  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  as  Head  of  the 
Church,  is  a  right  dear  to  American  citizens."  Another  assured  the 
"  Holy  Father"  that  "at  his  call  millions  of  Americans  would  rush  to 
his  standard."  It  was  often  assumed  that  disgust  and  abhorrence  of  the 
Italian  policy  was  well-nigh  universal,  and  that  the  protestants  included 
even  a  large  portion  of  the  Protestant  world.  Until  finally  a  Western 
Catholic  journal,  deceived  by  these  exuberant  manifestations  of  one  side 
and  the  conspicuous  silence  of  the  other,  was  emboldened  to  declare : 
"  If  the  civilized  world  is  to  respect  the  will  of  the  people,  even  leaving 
aside  the  question  of  justice,  Rome  must  be  given  back  to  the  Pope." 

On  such  hints  as  these,  that  immensely  predominant  portion  of  our 
people  who  really  believe  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  propose 
to  abide  by  it  a  considerable  while  longer,  decided  to  speak.  The  meet- 
ing gathered  last  Thursday  evening  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  to  sympa- 
thize with  the  people  of  Italy  and  Rome  in  their  efforts  toward  Italian 
Unity,  was  one  of  those  demonstrations  which  confound  cavil  and  define 
the  impulses  of  the  popular  heart  beyond  question.  The  truth  is,  the 
American  people  are  so  averse  to  religious  proscription,  and  so  resolved 
not  to  be  dragooned  by  sectaries  into  a  crusade  against  unpopular 
creeds,  that  they  are  more  than  willing  to  accord  every  freedom  to  any 
minority  sought  to  be  made  odious,  and  often  sit  silent  by  while  the 
oppressed  make  protest  unnecessarily  clamorous,  and  even  sometimes 
join  with  superfluous  gallantry  in  their  defence.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  this  country  is  still  enjoying  simultaneously  the  somewhat 
inconsistent  advantages  of  being,  to  the  lovers  of  fair  play,  "  the  under 
dog  in  the  fight,"  and,  to  observing  politicians,  a  power  too  formidable 
to  be  lightly  offended.  But  every  now  and  then  the  despotism  inherent 
in  that  system  forgets  its  characteristic  caution,  and  trenches  upon 
some  household  principle  in  which  the  great  American  heart  beats  and 
has  its  being — and  then,  look  out  for  thunder  !     • 

We  have  no  room  to  descant  upon  the  noble  and  truly  catholic  fea 


COMMENTS    OF    THE    PRESS.  ''v'' 

turesofthis  meeting.  It  was  presided  over  by  General  Dix,  and  the 
speakers  were  Parke  Godwin,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Judge  Emott, 
Dr.  BeUows,  and  Wm.  CuUen  Bryant.  Outside  of  the  building,  too, 
the  overflowing  assembly  was  addressed  by  Eorace  Greeley,  Chancellor 
Crosby,  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Daniel  D.  Lord,  and  others.  And  among  all 
these' addresses,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  there  was  do  sentence,  oor 
part  of  a  sentence,  which  could  be  distorted  into  an  expression  of  secta- 
rian prejudice,  or  which  transcended  the  acknowledged  right  of  every 
citizen  to  utter  Ins  opinion  of  civil  affairs. 

The  venerable  Pontiff  received  from  every  side  "thai  sympathy  which 
hisexcellenl  private  character,  joined  to  his  misfortunes,  would  natu- 
rally beget."  K\  ery  right  of  Catholics,  as  citizens,  was  earnestly  affirmed 
and  vindicated,  and  nothing  said,  at  least  on  the  main  question,  which 
any  Catholic  but  an  ultramontane  advocate  of  arbitrary  power  might 
not  have  heartily  adopted.  That  many  of  the  liberal  Catholics  will 
adopt  and  rejoice  in  the  language  of  this  meeting  we  thoroughly  believe. 
All  Europe  will  at  least  learn  from  it  that  the  people  of  this  Republic 
have  not  as  yet  forgotten  their  birthright,  nor  laid  the  great  Charter  of 
their  freedom  at  the  feet  of  any  of  the  decaj  ing  despotisms  of  the  Old 
World. 


|'l  he  [ndependent.]  , 

ITALIAN    LIBERTY    AND    UNITY. 

That  the  priests  and  bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  country 
—the  most  of  whom  are  foreign  importations  should  seriouslj  attempt 
to  arouse  the  sympathies  of  the  American  people  in  behalf  of  the  de- 
throned and  fallen  Pope,  and  especially  thai  thej  should  emploj  such 
arguments  as  contradict  the  very  first  principles  of  our  political  and 
civil  institutions,  is  a  most  astounding  evidence  alike  of  their  assump- 
tion, bigotry,  and  s.tupidity.     Whatever  timid, time-serving,  and  selfish 

politicians  may  think  it  prudenl  to  d 'omit,  lest  perchance  thej  give 

umbrage  to  Catholics,  the  greal  bod3  of  the  people  look  upon  the  over 
throw   of  Pius    IX.   as  the  temporal  sovereign   of  the  States  of   the 
Church,  and  th<    establishment   of  a   constitutional   governmenl  under 

an  elective  parliament,  with  Victor  E lanuel  at  its  head,  as  among  the 

Lmportanl  events  thai  will  make  the  past  year  memorable  in  the  annals 
0f  tin-  world.  [talians,  especially  the  former  subjects  and  vassals  of 
His  Holiness,  though  for  the  mod  pari  Catholics,  and  all  the  liberal 
Catholics  of  Europe,  have  already  hailed   these  events  with  Bhouta  of 

joy. 
This  efforl  to  sustain  the  Pope  in  his  pretended  rights  an. I  claims  to 


190  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

the  temporal  power  received  a  deserved  rebuke  at  the  great  meeting 
held  last  week  in  New  York.  That  meeting  represented  the  public 
sentiment  of  America ;  and,  as  we  doubt  not,  it  will  be  succeeded  by 
others  in  different  parts  of  the  land,  presenting  the  same  views  and  ex- 
pressing the  same  feelings.  Archbishop  Spalding,  of  Baltimore,  Dr. 
Manning,  and  all  the  other  Ultramontanists  of  the  Papacy,  will  find 
themselves  much  mistaken  if  they  suppose  that  the  public  opinion  of 
this  country  can  be  either  wheedled  or  frightened  from  a  full  and  earnest 
utterance  of  American  sentiments.  Their  denunciations  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  as  a  sacrilegious  spoiler,  and  of  the  Italians  as  recreant  to  the 
faith  of  the  Mother  Church,  are  alike  powerless  and  contemptible.  It 
is  difficult  to  characterize  them  as  they  deserve.  They  are  out  of  date 
and  out  of  place.  As  logic,  they  are  simply  impudent  when  addressed 
to  American  ears. 

There  has  been  no  time  during  the  present  century  in  which  Italians 
belonging  to  the  States  of  the  Church  would  not  have  summarily  dis- 
pensed with  the  Pope  as  a  temporal  sovereign,  but  for  the  influence 
and  intervention  of  foreign  powers.  After  the  downfall  of  the  First 
Napoleon,  the  Holy  Alliance  took  charge  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and 
for  a  series  of  years  kept  him  on  his  throne.  In  1830  this  task  passed 
specially  into  the  hands  of  Austria,  and  there  remained  till  the  revolu- 
tion of  1848  transferred  it  to  France.  This  revolution  resulted  in  the 
expulsion  and  flight  of  the  Pope,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Roman 
Republic.  Louis  Napoleon,  then  President  of  the  French  Republic,  for 
purely  political  reasons,  having  reference  to  plans  he  was  then 
maturing  to  subvert  the  liberties  of  France,  sent  an  army  to  Rome, 
crushed  the  infant  republic,  restored  the  Pope,  and  has  maintained  his 
power  by  French  bayonets  up  to  the  period  of  his  own  prostration  by 
Prussia,  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  and  against  the  earnest  protest  of  the 
Roman  people.     These  are  well-known  facts  of  history. 

The  very  first  opportunity  the  Romans  have  had  to  throw  off  this 
pontifical  yoke,  assert  their  own  liberties,  and  unite  themselves  with 
the  Italian  nation,  they  have  embraced  with  a  greediness  which,  while 
it  shows  the  oppressions  under  which  they  were  groaning,  ought  to  fill 
the  world  with  admiration.  Of  the  40,881  votes  that  were  cast  in  the 
city  of  Rome  on  the  question  of  uniting  the  States  of  the  Church  with 
the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  only  forty -six  were  in  the  negative  ;  and  a  like 
unanimity  marked  the  vote  in  the  several  provinces  of  the  Pope's 
dominions.  No  more  striking  expression  was  ever  given  to  the  public 
will ;  and  Americans  would  disgrace  their  own  antecedents,  and  be  un- 
true to  themselves,  if  they  did  not  send  hearty  words  of  cheer  to  the 
Roman  people,  and  congratulate  united  Italy,  with  her  twenty-six  mil- 
lions, that  the  land  of  poetry  and  of  song  has  now  passed  the  long  and 


COMMENTS    OF    Til  I.    PRES8.  !'.'! 

dark  night  of  petty  and  contending  sovereignties,  and  emerged  into  the 
broad  day  of  a  comprehensive  and  undivided  nationality,  with  the  motto 
of  "  A  free  <  Ihurch  in  a  free  State  "  written  on  its  banner.  The  Lovers 
of  liberty  throughout  tin- world,  and  all  the  friends  of  true  religion, 
whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  alike  rejoice  that  the  politico-spiritual 
despotism  of  the  Papacy,  which  lias  been  the  curse  of  both  Church  and 
State,  seems  to  have  received  its  final  and  finishing  blow.  While 
humanity  weeps  in  sadness  over  the  terrible  desolations  of  the  great 
Franco-Prussian  war,  it  accepts  this  result  with  sincere  gratitude  to 
<  rod,  and  devoutly  prays  that  no  schemes  of  cabinets  or  kings  may  ever 
be  permitted  to  reverse  or  change  it. 

Such  is  the  strong  feeling  that  prevails  generally  throughout  the 
nation,  and  of  which  the  New  York  meeting  is  a  fitting  expression. 
The  principles  of  free  government  are  just  as  good  for  Romans  as  they 
are  for  Americans  ;  and  that  man  is  a  traitor  to  these  principles,  be  be 
archbishop  or  layman,  who  denounces  their  application  to  any  country 
on  the  broad  face  of  the  earth.  The  people  have  as  much  right  to  dis- 
pense with  a  pope  as  with  a  king,  since  neither  has  any  just  authority 
except  by  their  consent.  The  pretence  that  the  two  hundred  millions 
of  Catholics  outside  of  the  former  States  of  the  Church  have  the  right 
to  force  a  pope  upon  a  people  against  their  consent  is  the  argument  of  a 
bigot  and  a  tyrant.  It  will  not  pass  current  in  these  United  States, 
even  though  it  falls  from  an  archbishop's  lips.  We  have  no  \  Lolence  of 
antipathy  to  pour  out  against  Catholics;  yet  we  advise  them  to  study 
the  principles  of  the  political  system  under  which  they  are  here  living, 
and  to  concede  to  all  others  what  they  so  richly  enjoy  for  themselves. 
it  will  be  in  them  a  great  mistake  to  repudiate  the  most  elementary 
maxims  of  republican  governments  <>n  account  of  their  attachment  to 
the  Roman  Pontiff  as  their  spiritual  head.  A  few  more  such  utterances 
as  those  of  Archbishop  Spalding  and  Dr.  Maiming  will  place  Catholi- 
cism at  an  enormous  discount  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  justlj 
subject  it  to  the  charge  of  beim;  anti-republican  to  the  \er\  core. 

The  position  in  which  the  Pope  Ls  placed  under  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment is  not  one  that  interferes  with  the  freest  exercise  of  bis  spiritual 
functions.  He  is  not  outlawed  in  bis  pontificate,  or  banished  from 
Kome  :  but  simply  relieved  by  the  voice  of  the  people  from  the  cares  ol 
Mute,  thai  Mi-.  Holiness  and  bis  cardinals  maj  give  their  undivided  atten 

tion  to  the  cure  of  souls.  lie  can  now  con  line  hi  him 'If  to  the  legitimate 
use  of  spiritual  weapons,  as  Paul  did  ages  ago,  leaving  those  thai  OT6 
carnal  to  other  hands.       Instead  of  being  invested  with  ci\  il   powers,  an. I 

made  independent  of  all  human  authority,  he  now  becomes, like  the 
Catholic  priesthood  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe,  simplj  a  subject 
of  law,  while   retaining  all    his  relations  and  rights  as  the  head  of   'lie 


192  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

Church  and  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  in  the  direct  line  of  succession  from  St. 
Peter,  according  to  the  theological  programme  of  Papal  doctrinaires  and 
the  unreasoning  faith  of  hoodwinked  millions.  Providence,  slow  in 
action  but  sure  in  final  results,  has  at  length  assigned  to  him  the  posi- 
tion which  St.  Peter  never  left ;  and  it  had  been  well  for  the  world  if 
all  the  popes  of  history  had  been  content  in  this  respect  to  imitate  the 
example  of  their  model  bishop.  He  may  call  as  many  (Ecumenical 
Councils  as  he  pleases,  and  these  councils  may  vote  him  to  be  infallible 
every  day  in  the  year;  he  may  issue  his  bulls,  publish  his  decides,  pro- 
nounce his  harmless  anathemas,  even  to  the  "  Excommunicatio  Major" 
and  by  moral  means  propagate  Catholicism  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ; 
yet  there  is  one  thing  which  he  can  no  longer  do,  and  which  Christ  and 
his  apostles  never  attempted  to  do — he  cannot  enact  laws  and  enforce 
them  by  the  power  of  the  sword.  As  a  temporal  sovereign,  the  Pope  is 
dead  ;  and  the  civil  despotism  of  his  pontificate  has  come  to  an  end, — 
as  we  trust,  never  to  be  renewed.  This  is  the  whole  matter  in  the 
compass  of  a  nutshell. 

Free,  united,  consolidated  Italy,  having  one  government  and  but  one 
for  all  the  people,  at  last  delivered  from  the  domination  of  priestly 
hierarchy,  and  exercising  the  religious  and  civil  rights  which  belong  to 
a  noble  people,  now  salutes  mankind  with  free  speech,  a  free  press,  a 
free  church,  and  a  free  Bible.  This  salutation  is  the  echo  of  modern 
civilization  in  its  onward  march  to  victory  throughout  the  world.  Re- 
publicanism and  Christianity  in  this  free  America,  with  no  unfriendly 
feelings  to  Pius  IX.  as  a  man,  and  no  bigoted  or  persecuting  hostility  to 
Catholicism  as  a  faith,  but  with  a  generous  good-will  to  all  nations, 
return  the  salutation  by  exclaiming  :  "  Italy  is  free  !  Italy  is  one  !  and 
Rome,  the  ancient  mistress  of  the  world,  is  her  capital  once  more,  not 
by  the  support  of  foreign  garrisons,  but  by  the  free  choice  of  the 
Italian  people."  May  the  auspices  of  this  happy  hour  prove  to  be  the 
faithful  prophecy  of  a  lasting  and  progressive  career  of  national  great- 
ness, in  which  modern  and  Christianized  Italy  shall  outshine  all  the 
glories  of  her  earlier  days  !  This  is  the  hope  and  this  the  prayer  of 
every  friend  of  religious  and  civil  liberty. 


A  PPEXDI X 


REPLY  OF   THE   ITALIAN   GOVEttXMl  N  I' 
The  following  telegraphic  despatch   was  received  in  answer  to  tin 
telegram  of  the  Presided  of  the  meeting: — 

To  Che  v.  Ferdinando  De  Luca, 

Consul-Genera]  of  Italy,  New  York  : 

Bv  the  Command  oi  His  Majesty  Kino;  \'i<  toe  Emmanuel,  you 

are  directed  to  tender  to  General  John  A.  Dix,  president  of  the 

meeting  for  the  celebration  of  Italian  Unitv,  his  sincere  thanks 

for  the  sentiments  and  congratulations  expressed  in  his  telegram. 

Visconti  V ENOS1  A. 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


LETTER  OF  THE  ITALLVN  CONSUL. 

Consulate  General  of  Italy  in  the  U.  S., 
New  York,  Jan.  16th,  1871. 

To  the  Hon.  John  A.  Dix,  President  of  the  Meeting  for  the  <  lelebra- 

tion  of  the  Unity  of  Italy. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  forward  to  you  the  translation  of  a  tele- 
gram which  I  have  received  from  my  Government. 

It  is  with  greal  gratification  that  1  hasten  to  comply  with  the  order 
therein  transmitted,  and  beg  to  assure  you  and  all  those  who  toot  pari 
in  the  meeting  held  in  New  Xork  for  the  celebration  of  the  V  \w\\  of 
Italy,  that  liis  Majesty  Victor  Emmanuel,  my  Sovereign,  has  warmly 
appreciated  the  sentiments  of  your  message,  and  regards  it  as  a  friendly 
expression  of  sympathy  to  himself,  as  well  as  to  his  governmenl  and 
people. 

I  cannot  but  avail  myself  of  tins  occasion  to  say,  that  the  grand  and 
spontaneous  demonstration  in  behalf  of  Italy,  which  took  place  on  the 
L  2th  instant,  will  qoI  fail  to  evoke  a  profound  sentimenl   of  gratitude 

and  pride  ah1  [talians.      No  greeting  could  be  re  welc >l  ly 

[tahj  as  this  cheering  voice  of  America,  whose  glorious  steps  she  lias  so 

closely  followed  in  her  struggle  for  unitj  and   inde] tence.      Even   in 

the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  the  natural  resull  of  the  emancipa 
tion  of  Rome,  she  has  no  better  example  than  thai  of  America.  Both 
enjoying   the   blessing  of  free    institutions,    although    under  difterenl 


194  UNITY    OF    ITALY. 

forms,  may  the  two  nations  henceforth  march  hand  in  hand  in  the  great 

pathway  of  liberty  and  civilization. 

With  the  assurance  of  my  high  consideration  and  regard,  I  have  the 

honor  to  be,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Ferdinando  De  Luca. 


LETTER  OF  THE  ITALIAN  MINISTER. 
The    following    letter    of   Count    Corti,    Envoy    Extraordinary    and 
Minister   Plenipotentiary   of  the  King  of  Italy   in   Washington,   was 
afterwards  received  by  the  President  of  the  meeting : — 

Legation  of  H.  M.  the  King  of  Italy, 
Washington,  February  11,  1871. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  On  the  occasion  of  the  meeting  held  in  New  York 
on  the  12th  of  January  to  celebrate  the  unity  of  Italy,  I  felt  it  incum- 
bent upon  me  to  inform  the  Government  of  H.  M.  the  King  of  Italy  of 
that  splendid  manifestation  of  American  sympathy  for  the  Italian  cause. 
I  have  now  the  honor  of  fulfilling  its  commands,  by  expressing  to  you 
its  hearty  appreciation  of  the  distinguished  part  you  took  as  the  presid- 
ing officer  of  the  meeting,  and  also  in  begging  you  to  convey  its  sincere 
sentiments  of  gratitude  to  the  other  eminent  citizens  who  co-operated 
with  you  in  that  demonstration. 

The  profound  emotions  with  which  I  read  the  eloquent  words  of 
congratulation  pronounced  in  that  imposing  and  representative  assem- 
bly on  an  occasion  so  flattering  to  my  country,  only  anticipated  the 
joyful  acknowledgments  of  the  whole  Italian  people  at  this  proof  of  the 
deep  interest  felt  in  them  by  free  and  powerful  America. 

If  ancient  Home  implanted  the  seeds  of  civilization  in  the  most 
remote  portions  of  the  old  world,  the  United  States  have  certainly  fol- 
lowed her  example  in  regard  to  the  new.  In  modern  times  America, 
like  Italy,  has  had  to  pass  through  severe  struggles  to  establish  national 
unity,  and  history  will  record  these  analogies  of  deeds  and  aspirations 
between  the  two  peoples. 

My  country  is  now  going  through  the  glorious  work  of  reconstruct- 
ing herself  on  the  basis  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  In  introducing 
there  the  principles  of  popular  education,  of  decentralization  in  admi- 
nistrative matters,  of  complete  separation  between  Church  and  State, 
she  will  not  fail  to  avail  herself  of  the  splendid  examples  set  forth  by 
the  United  States.  Italy,  under  the  auspices  of  the  magnanimous 
dynasty  who  with  stout  heart  and  valiant  sword  has  so  much  contri- 
buted to  the  emancipation  of  the  country,  has  taken  her  place  in  the 
foremost  ranks  of  modern  civilization.  Though  always  ready  to  draw  the 
sword  in  the  defence  of  her  own  unity  and  independence,  she  will  hence- 


APPENDIX.  1 95 

forth  constitute  one  of  the  principal  elements  of  peace  in  the  concert  of 
nations.  America  has  understood  tins,  and  Italy  responds  with  enthu- 
siasm to  the  cordial  salute  sent  to  her  across  the  ocean. 

In  presenting  the  thanks  of  my  government  to  you,  and  to  the  citizens 
oi  New  lork  who  so  heartily  responded  to  the  call,  be  assured  of  the 
lively  satisfaction  I  take  in  the  performance  of  so  grateful  a  duty. 

Accept,  my  dear  sir,  the  expressions  of  my  most  distinguished  con- 
sideration. 

„  T  L.   CORTI. 

Hon.  John*  A.  Dix,  New  York. 


REPLY   OF   GEN.    DE   TO   THE   ITALIAN  MINISTER. 

New  York,  February  15th,  1871. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  favor  of  the 
11th  inst.,  expressing  in  behalf  of  the  government  of  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  Italy,  its  hearty  appreciation  of  the  manifestation  of  American 
sympathy  for  the  Italian  cause,  at  the  meeting  of  citizens  in  this  cit- 
on  the  12th  of  January  last. 

It  will  be  a  source  of  sincere  gratification  to  all  who  participated  in 
the  proceedings  of  that  meeting,  to  know  that  their  earnest  desire  to 
see  the  kingdom  of  Italy  assume  a  distinguished  rank  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  has  been  responded  to  by  its  government  and  people 
in  a  manner  so  cordial,  and  so  complimentary  to   the  people  of  the 
United  States.     We  should  have  been  untrue  to  the  principles  of  our 
own  political  system,  and  it  would  have  been  an  ungrateful  return  for  al  I 
the  treasures  we  have  drawn  from  the  rich  mines  of  Roman  and  Italian 
literature  and  art,  if  we  had  been  indifferent  to  the  renovation  of  Italj 
as  a  united  nation,  and  to  the  effort  she  is  making  to  place  herself  in 
the  foreground  as  a   champion   of  civil  and   religious   liberty  in  the 
Eastern  Hemisphere. 

I  am  sure  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  every  true-hearted  Amnion 
when  I  say  that  our  sympathy  will  accompany  her  in  her  nru  career, 
with  a  fervency  which  will  be  increased  by  every  successful  step  in  her 
progress. 

I   .iin.  dear  sir, 

willi  distinguished  consideration, 
,*  our  obedient  Bervantj 

...    ^  •l""N  A    |,|x- 

J  lis  Kxcelloncy, 

l>.  CoRTI, 

-Minister  of  Italy  to  the  United  States, 

Washington,  I  >.  0. 


196  UNITY    OF    ITALY 


ADDRESS   FROM   MASSACHUSETTS. 

[The  New  York  celebration  of  the  unity  of  Italy  called  forth  demon- 
strations of  the  same  character  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States; 
among  them  the  following  address  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
signed  by  Governor  Claflin,  the  President  of  the  State  Senate,  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the 
Collector,  and  the  Mayor  of  Boston,  most  of  the  leading  merchants  and 
members  of  the  clergy,  together  with  many  literary  men  of  note  : 
President  Elliot  of  Harvard  University,  R.  W.  Emerson,  J.  G.  Whit- 
tier,  Henry  W.  Longfellow,  O.  W.  Holmes,  J.  R.  Lowell,  Edwin  P. 
Whipple,  J.  T.  Fields,  J.  M.  Fiske,  F.  W.  Loring,  and  many  others. 
The   address  is  engrossed  on  parchment,  and  beautifully  illuminated.] 

"  To  His  Majesty  Victor'  Emmanuel  II,  King  of  Italy  : 

"  The  undersigned,  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  desire  to  con- 
gratulate you,  and,  through  you,  your  people,  upon  the  unity  of 
Italy,  and  the  establishment  of  Rome  as  its  capital.  Our  own 
history  has  taught  us  the  value  of  union.  The  independence  of 
our  country  was  achieved  by  union,  and  we  know  that  by  union 
alone  can  it  be  maintained.  We  rejoice  that  the  independence 
of  your  country  is  assured  by  the  same  grand  policy,  and  that 
this  policy  is  strengthened  by  the  accpuisition  of  the  Eternal  City 
as  the  seat  of  government.  This  peaceful  conquest  gratifies  the 
pride  of  your  people  and  touches  the  imagination  of  the  world. 
It  has  cheered  the  hearts  of  all  who  love  liberty  to  watch  the 
steps  by  which  your  kingdom  has  advanced  in  power,  in  honor, 
and  in  freedom.  We  love  to  feel  that  the  example  of  the  heroes 
and  martyrs  in  the  new  world  has  done  something  for  the  good 
cause  in  the  old  world.  The  triumphs  of  the  past  will  stimulate 
you  to  new  achievements.  We  assure  you  of  our  heartfelt 
sympathy  in  all  your  efforts  for  the  good  of  Italy.  We  believe 
that  you  agree  with  us,  that  the  truest  wisdom  of  all  rulers  is 
found  in  justice  and  beneficence  to  all  men  ;  and  that  the  great- 
est earthly  gift  to  the  people  is  that  universal  education  which 
is  the  strength  of  our  country  and  must  be  the  hope  of  yours. 
We  wish  for  you  a  long  and  glorious  reign  ;  for  your  people, 
progress  and  prosperity ;  for  United  Italy,  independence,  stabili- 
ty, and  honor,  while  the  world  stands." 


APPENDIX. 


197 


A  HYMN 

FOR    THE   CELEBRATION    OF    ITALIAN    UNITY. 


By  I ii.ia  Ward  Howe. 


[The  following  Hymn,  by  Jvi.ia  "Ward  Howe,  was  read  at  the  Meeting  held 
in  Boston,  at  the  Music  Hall.  February  23,  1871,  for  the  Celebration  of  Italian 
Unity.  J 

Let  them  sound  a  victor  strophe  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea ! 
Sweep  away  the  old  defences  !  let  the  tide  of  life  run  free 
As  the  thought  of  God  commissioned,  that  outleaps  captivity. 
Let  Italy  be  one  ! 

Chorus:  Glory,  hallelujah  ! 

There's  a  mother,  sad  and  lonely,  who  for  ages  gave  no  sound. 
Save  in  moaning  for  her  children,  from  her  bosom  sold  and  bound  : 
They  have  gathered  now  about  her;  with  their  beauty  she  is  crowned. 
And  Italy  is  one  ! 

Not  of  war  this  boon  was  given;  not  achieved  in  wrath  and  blood  ; 
Not  the  soldier's  gauntlet  flings  it ;  nor  the  battle's  fiery  flood  : 
In  the  garden  of  Christ's  passion  did  it  slowly  bloom  and  bud, 
The  love  that  makes  men  one 

Sound  the  trump  of  resurrection  !  let  the  noble  dead  arise  ! 

Let  the  hour  long  wept  and    wished   for   make    God   present    lo   their 

eyes  ! 
Lei  one  joy  illume  the  heavens  and  the  earthly  paradise. 
Since  Italy  is  one  ! 

Mother,   mourning    long   thy    dear   ones,  lei  the    Present's  rapturous 

strain 

Lift,  its  prayer  for  all  who  suffer,  pour  its  balm  <>n  every  pain  ; 
Till  the  motherhood  immortal  hold  God's  children  in  its  reign, 
And  all  mankind  are 1 1 


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